Methods for landing an unmanned aerial vehicle

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods include UAVs that serve to assist carrier personnel by reducing the physical demands of the transportation and delivery process. A UAV generally includes a UAV chassis including an upper portion, a plurality of propulsion members configured to provide lift to the UAV chassis, and a parcel carrier configured for being selectively coupled to and removed from the UAV chassis. UAV support mechanisms are utilized to load and unload parcel carriers to the UAV chassis, and the UAV lands on and takes off from the UAV support mechanism to deliver parcels to a serviceable point. The UAV includes computing entities that interface with different systems and computing entities to send and receive various types of information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application 62/329,491, filed on Apr. 29, 2016, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Parcel transportation between an origin and a destination is traditionally a labor-intensive process. For short distance, “local” deliveries, an item (e.g., parcel) may be transported by a delivery person between the origin and the destination. For example, the delivery person may drive a vehicle to transport the item between the origin and the destination, and may ensure that the item is properly picked up and/or delivered according to delivery instructions. For longer-distance deliveries, transportation of an item may involve a number of delivery personnel, who may individually perform one or more steps for picking up an item, sorting the item one or more times, transporting the item from a final sort location to a final delivery destination, and/or delivering the item from the delivery vehicle to the final destination address (e.g., serviceable point). Because of the labor-intensive nature of this process, various attempts have been made to assist carrier personnel by reducing the physical demands required in the transportation and delivery process; however, prior attempts have faced substantial difficulties in ensuring that various aspects of the transportation and delivery process are properly performed. For example, attempts have been made to utilize unmanned vehicles, such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to transport items from a final sort location to an intended delivery destination. However, such concepts are generally limited by the effective range of the UAVs, as well as the number of available UAVs that may be utilized to deliver items to locations a substantial distance away from the final sort location.

Accordingly, a need exists for additional systems and methods to assist carrier personnel and thereby reduce the physical demands of the transportation and delivery process.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one embodiment, a UAV for delivering a parcel includes a UAV chassis including an upper portion having a plurality of propulsion members configured to provide lift to the UAV chassis. The UAV chassis further includes a lower portion positioned below the upper portion in a vertical direction, the lower portion defining an internal cavity. A parcel carrier of the UAV is configured for being selectively coupled to and removed from the UAV chassis, the parcel carrier including an engagement housing configured for being at least partially inserted within the internal cavity of the lower portion of the UAV chassis and thereby secured to the UAV chassis. The parcel carrier has a parcel carrying mechanism coupled to and positioned below the engagement housing, where the parcel carrying mechanism is configured for engaging and holding the parcel.

In another embodiment, a UAV for delivering a parcel includes a UAV chassis including an upper portion including a plurality of propulsion members configured to provide lift to the UAV chassis. The UAV chassis further includes a lower portion positioned below the upper portion in a vertical direction. A parcel carrier is selectively coupled to and removable from the UAV chassis, the parcel carrier including an engagement housing configured for being secured to the lower portion of the UAV chassis. A parcel carrying mechanism of the parcel carrier is coupled to the engagement housing and positioned below the engagement housing, where the parcel carrying mechanism is configured to engage a parcel.

In yet another embodiment, a UAV for delivering a parcel includes a UAV chassis includes a plurality of propulsion members configured to provide lift to the UAV chassis and a UAV electrical interface electrically coupled to the plurality of propulsion members. The UAV further includes a parcel carrier selectively coupled to and removable from the UAV chassis, the parcel carrier including an engagement housing configured for being secured to the UAV chassis. The engagement housing includes a carrier electrical interface configured for being electrically coupled to the UAV electrical interface when the parcel carrier is coupled to the UAV chassis. A parcel carrying mechanism of the parcel carrier is coupled to the engagement housing, where the parcel carrying mechanism is configured to engage a parcel, and a power source of the parcel carrier is electrically coupled to the carrier electrical interface and configured for powering the plurality of propulsion members when the parcel carrier is coupled to the UAV chassis.

In one embodiment, an enhanced parcel delivery system includes a UAV having a UAV chassis including an upper portion and a plurality of propulsion members configured to provide lift to the UAV chassis. The UAV chassis includes a lower portion positioned below the upper portion in a vertical direction, the lower portion defining an internal cavity. A first parcel carrier is selectively coupled to and removable from the UAV chassis, the first parcel carrier including a first engagement housing configured to be at least partially inserted within the internal cavity of the lower portion of the UAV chassis. The first parcel carrier includes a first power source positioned within the first engagement housing and configured to be electrically coupled to the plurality of propulsion members. A first parcel carrying mechanism of the first parcel carrier is coupled to and positioned below the first engagement housing, where the first parcel carrying mechanism is configured to engage a first parcel. The system further includes a second parcel carrier selectively coupled to and removable from the UAV chassis, the second parcel carrier including a second engagement housing configured to be at least partially inserted within the internal cavity of the lower portion of the UAV chassis. The second parcel carrier includes a second power source positioned within the second engagement housing and configured to be electrically coupled to the plurality of propulsion members. A second parcel carrying mechanism of the second parcel carrier is coupled to and positioned below the second engagement housing, where the second parcel carrying mechanism is configured to engage a second parcel.

In another embodiment, a UAV for delivering a parcel includes a UAV chassis including an upper portion having an upper portion width evaluated in a lateral direction, where the upper portion includes a tapered shape such that the upper portion width decreases moving downward along the upper portion in the vertical direction. The UAV chassis includes a plurality of propulsion members configured to provide lift to the UAV chassis and a lower portion positioned below the upper portion in a vertical direction. The lower portion of the UAV chassis includes a lower portion width evaluated in the lateral direction, and the UAV chassis includes a reduced width portion positioned between the upper portion and the lower portion, the reduced width portion having a width evaluated in the lateral direction, where the width of the reduced width portion is less than the upper portion width and the lower portion width. The UAV further includes a parcel carrying mechanism coupled to the lower portion, where the parcel carrying mechanism is configured to engage a parcel.

In yet another embodiment, a UAV for delivering a parcel includes a UAV chassis including an upper portion having an upper portion width evaluated in a lateral direction and a plurality of propulsion members configured to provide lift to the UAV chassis. The UAV chassis further includes a reduced width portion positioned below the upper portion, the reduced width portion having a width evaluated in the lateral direction, where the width of the reduced width portion is less than the upper portion width. A parcel carrier of the UAV is selectively coupled to the UAV chassis, the parcel carrier including an engagement housing selectively coupled to the reduced width portion of the UAV chassis. A parcel carrying mechanism of the parcel carrier is coupled to the engagement housing, where the parcel carrying mechanism is configured to engage a parcel.

In yet another embodiment, an enhanced parcel delivery system for delivering parcels via a UAV includes a UAV support mechanism having a pair of opposing rails extending in a longitudinal direction, where the opposing rails are spaced apart from one another in a lateral direction that is transverse to the longitudinal direction. The opposing rails define a landing region, a takeoff region positioned opposite the landing region, a transport region positioned between the takeoff region and the landing region. The system further includes at least one UAV including a UAV chassis having an upper portion having an upper portion width evaluated in a lateral direction. A lower portion of the UAV chassis is positioned below the upper portion in a vertical direction, the lower portion having a lower portion width evaluated in the lateral direction. A reduced width portion of the UAV chassis is positioned between the upper portion and the lower portion, the reduced width portion having a width evaluated in the lateral direction. The width of the reduced width portion is less than the upper portion width and the lower portion width, and where the reduced width portion is configured to engage the pair of opposing rails of the UAV support mechanism.

In one embodiment, a primary delivery vehicle configured for delivering parcels via a UAV includes an interior compartment, and a roof panel defining a portal, where the interior compartment is accessible through the portal. The vehicle includes a UAV support mechanism positioned on the roof panel of the vehicle and configured for providing a landing surface for the UAV, the UAV support mechanism including a pair of opposing rails extending in a longitudinal direction and positioned above the portal, where the opposing rails are spaced apart from one another in a lateral direction that is transverse to the longitudinal direction. The opposing rails define a landing region, a takeoff region positioned opposite the landing region, and a transport region positioned between the takeoff region and the landing region.

In another embodiment, a primary delivery vehicle configured for delivering parcels via a UAV includes an interior compartment, a roof panel defining a supply portal and a return portal spaced apart from the supply portal, where the interior compartment is accessible through the supply portal and the return portal. The vehicle further includes a UAV support mechanism including a pair of opposing rails extending in a longitudinal direction, where the opposing rails are spaced apart from one another in a lateral direction that is transverse to the longitudinal direction. The opposing rails define a landing region, a supply region positioned over the supply portal of the roof panel, a return region positioned over the return portal of the roof panel, and a transport region positioned between the supply region and the return region.

In yet another embodiment, a primary delivery vehicle configured for delivering parcels via a UAV includes an interior compartment, a roof panel defining a supply portal, where the interior compartment is accessible through the supply portal, a loading robot positioned within the interior compartment. The loading robot includes a robot controller including at least one processor and at least one memory including program code, the at least one memory and the program code configured to, with the processor, cause the loading robot to at least engage a parcel carrier, move the parcel carrier to a supply portal, and engage the parcel carrier with a UAV positioned above the supply portal.

In yet another embodiment, a primary delivery vehicle configured for delivering parcels via a UAV includes an interior compartment, and a roof panel defining a return portal, where the interior compartment is accessible through the return portal. A loading robot is positioned within the interior compartment, the loading robot including a robot controller including at least one processor and at least one memory including program code, the at least one memory and the program code configured to, with the processor, cause the loading robot to at least engage a parcel carrier coupled to a UAV positioned above the return portal, remove the parcel carrier from a UAV chassis of the UAV, move the parcel carrier from the return portal to a rack positioned in the interior compartment, and engage the parcel carrier with the rack of the interior compartment.

In yet another embodiment, a method for loading/unloading a parcel carrier to a UAV includes receiving a parcel to be delivered by a UAV and engaging a parcel carrying mechanism of a parcel carrier with the parcel, the parcel carrying mechanism being configured to engage and secure the parcel to the parcel carrier. The method further includes moving the parcel carrier and parcel toward a UAV chassis of the UAV, and securing an engagement housing of the parcel carrier to the UAV chassis of the UAV, where the engagement housing of the parcel carrier is coupled to and positioned above the parcel carrying mechanism of the parcel carrier.

In one embodiment, a method for loading/unloading a parcel carrier to a UAV includes engaging a parcel with a parcel carrier, the parcel carrier including an engagement housing and a parcel carrying mechanism coupled to and positioned below the engagement housing, where the parcel is engaged with the parcel carrying mechanism. The method further includes moving the parcel carrier toward a UAV chassis positioned on a UAV support mechanism, moving an engagement member of the UAV chassis from an extended position into a retracted position, engaging the engagement housing of the parcel carrier with a UAV chassis. The method further includes moving the engagement member of the UAV chassis from the retracted position into the extended position, securing the engagement housing to the UAV chassis.

In yet another embodiment, a method for delivering parcels via a UAV includes securing a first parcel to a first parcel carrier, and at a loading point, securing the first parcel carrier to a chassis of a UAV for delivery of the first parcel. The method further includes navigating the UAV from the loading point to a serviceable point, and at the serviceable point, releasing the first parcel from a parcel carrying mechanism of the first parcel carrier. The method further includes navigating the UAV from the serviceable point to the loading point, and at the loading point, removing the first parcel carrier from the UAV chassis and securing a second parcel carrier that is coupled to a second parcel to the chassis of the UAV for delivery of the second parcel.

In another embodiment, a method for accessing a restricted access area by a UAV includes electronically storing, by a computing entity of the UAV, an access code associated with a restricted access area, where (a) the restricted access area is at a serviceable point, (b) a user computing entity at the serviceable point is configured to selectively allow access to the restricted access area in response to receipt of the access code, and (c) the UAV includes the UAV computing entity. The method further includes, after navigation of the UAV proximate the restricted access area at the serviceable point, communicating, by the computing entity of the UAV, the access code to the user computing entity, where (a) a parcel is selectively coupled to a UAV chassis of the UAV, and (b) the user computing entity allows entry into the restricted access area responsive to receiving the access code. After the user computing entity allows entry into the restricted access area, the method further includes navigating, by the computing entity of the UAV, the UAV into the restricted access area of the serviceable point.

In yet another embodiment, a UAV computing entity includes at least one processor and at least one memory including program code, the at least one memory and the program code configured to, with the processor, cause the UAV computing entity to at least electronically store an access code associated with a restricted access area, where (a) the restricted access area is at a serviceable point, (b) a user computing entity at the serviceable point is configured to selectively allow access to the restricted access area in response to receipt of the access code, and (c) a UAV includes the UAV computing entity. After navigation of the UAV proximate the restricted access area at the serviceable point, the UAV computing entity is configured to communicate the access code to the user computing entity, where (a) a parcel is selectively coupled to a UAV chassis of the UAV, and (b) the user computing entity allows entry into the restricted access area responsive to receiving the access code. After the user computing entity allows entry into the restricted access area, the UAV computing entity is configured to navigate the UAV into the restricted access area of the serviceable point.

In one embodiment, a method for picking up a parcel via a UAV includes navigating a UAV to a serviceable point, the UAV including a UAV chassis, a parcel carrier coupled to the UAV chassis, the parcel carrier including an engagement housing selectively coupled to the UAV chassis, and parcel carrying arms positioned below the engagement housing. The method further includes detecting a parcel at the serviceable point with a camera of the UAV, navigating the UAV to a position over the parcel and reducing power to propulsion members of the UAV to descend the UAV over the parcel. The method further includes depressing a ground probe of the parcel carrier, engaging the parcel carrying arms of the parcel carrier with the parcel, and navigating the UAV from the serviceable point to a UAV support mechanism.

In another embodiment, a method for picking up a parcel via a UAV includes navigating a UAV to a serviceable point, the UAV including a UAV chassis, a parcel carrier coupled to the UAV chassis, the parcel carrier including an engagement housing selectively coupled to the UAV chassis, and a parcel carrying mechanism positioned below the engagement housing. The method further includes landing the UAV at the serviceable point and turning off propulsion members of the UAV, receiving, via a UAV computing entity, a notification that a parcel is engaged with the engagement housing of the parcel carrier, and engaging the propulsion members of the UAV and navigating the UAV from the serviceable point to a UAV support mechanism.

In yet another embodiment, an enhanced parcel delivery system for delivering parcels via a UAV includes a primary delivery vehicle, a UAV support mechanism coupled to the primary delivery vehicle, the UAV support mechanism configured for supporting one or more UAVs. A plurality of UAVs of the system each include a UAV chassis including a plurality of propulsion members configured to provide lift to the UAV chassis, and a parcel carrier including an engagement housing configured for being secured to the UAV chassis. Each parcel carrier includes a parcel carrying mechanism coupled to and positioned below the engagement housing, where the parcel carrying mechanism is configured for engaging and holding a parcel for delivery.

In yet another embodiment, a method for providing a notification regarding delivery of a parcel by a UAV including after navigating a UAV to a serviceable point, establishing, via a UAV computing entity, a direct communications link between the UAV computing entity and a user computing entity, where (a) a UAV includes the UAV computing entity, a UAV chassis, and a parcel carrier coupled to the UAV chassis, (b) the parcel carrier includes an engagement housing selectively coupled to the UAV chassis, (c) a parcel carrying mechanism is engaged with and securing a parcel to the engagement housing, and (d) the user computing entity is associated with the serviceable point. The method further includes releasing the parcel from the parcel carrying mechanism of the parcel carrier, and after releasing the parcel from the parcel carrying mechanism of the parcel carrier, providing, via the UAV computing entity, a notification to the user computing entity through the direct communications link, where the notification includes information indicative of the release of the parcel at the serviceable point.

In one embodiment, a UAV computing entity includes at least one processor and at least one memory including program code, the at least one memory and the program code configured to, with the processor, cause the UAV computing entity to at least, after navigating a UAV to a serviceable point, establish a communication link between the UAV computing entity and a user computing entity, where (a) a UAV includes the UAV computing entity, a UAV chassis, and a parcel carrier coupled to the UAV chassis, (b) the parcel carrier includes an engagement housing selectively coupled to the UAV chassis, (c) a parcel carrying mechanism is engaged with and securing a parcel to the engagement housing, and (d) the user computing entity is associated with the serviceable point, release the parcel from the parcel carrying mechanism of the parcel carrier. After releasing the parcel from the parcel carrying mechanism of the parcel carrier, the UAV computing entity is configured to provide a notification to the user computing entity through the communication link, where the notification includes information indicative of the release of the parcel at the serviceable point.

In another embodiment, a method for landing an unmanned aerial (UAV) on a UAV support mechanism includes navigating a UAV toward a UAV support mechanism, receiving a signal from a guidance array of the UAV support mechanism, and navigating the UAV to a landing region of a UAV support mechanism. The method further includes guiding a reduced width portion of the UAV between opposing rails of the UAV support mechanism and engaging the UAV with the UAV support mechanism, and moving the UAV from the landing region toward a return region of the UAV support mechanism.

In one embodiment, a method for initiating delivery of a parcel via an unmanned aerial vehicle includes, for each of a first plurality of parcels to be delivered by a carrier, electronically storing parcel data including (a) a first logical grouping identifier corresponding to a first logical grouping with which each of the first plurality of parcels is associated and (b) a respective parcel identifier for each of the first plurality of parcels. The method further includes, for each of a second plurality of parcels to be delivered by the carrier, electronically storing parcel data including (a) a second logical grouping identifier corresponding to a second logical grouping with which each of the second plurality of parcels is associated and (b) a respective parcel identifier for each of the second plurality of parcels. The method further includes electronically setting a current logical grouping identifier to the first logical grouping identifier, responsive to receiving an indication that a first parcel from the second plurality of parcels is to be delivered by the carrier, determining whether the logical grouping identifier for the first parcel is the same as the current logical grouping identifier, and responsive to determining the logical grouping identifier for the first parcel is not the same as the current logical grouping identifier, initiating delivery of a second parcel from the second plurality of parcels by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

In another embodiment, a system includes at least one processor and at least one memory including program code, the at least one memory and the program code configured to, with the processor, cause the system to at least, for each of a first plurality of parcels to be delivered by a carrier, electronically store parcel data including (a) a first logical grouping identifier corresponding to a first logical grouping with which each of the first plurality of parcels is associated and (b) a respective parcel identifier for each of the first plurality of parcels. For each of a second plurality of parcels to be delivered by the carrier, the system is further configured to electronically store parcel data including (a) a second logical grouping identifier corresponding to a second logical grouping with which each of the second plurality of parcels is associated and (b) a respective parcel identifier for each of the second plurality of parcels. The system is further configured to electronically set a current logical grouping identifier to the first logical grouping identifier, responsive to receiving an indication that a first parcel from the second plurality of parcels is to be delivered by the carrier, determine whether the logical grouping identifier for the first parcel is the same as the current logical grouping identifier. Responsive to determining the logical grouping identifier for the first parcel is not the same as the current logical grouping identifier, the system is further configured to initiate delivery of a second parcel from the second plurality of parcels by an unmanned aerial vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

Reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 schematically depicts a vehicle and a plurality of associated UAVs according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 2 schematically depicts a perspective view of the UAV of FIG. 1 and associated parcel carrier according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 3 schematically depicts a top view of the UAV of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 4. schematically depicts a bottom perspective view of the UAV chassis of the UAV of FIG. 1 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 5 schematically depicts an exploded perspective view of the UAV and parcel carrier of FIG. 2 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 6 schematically depicts a bottom perspective view of the UAV and parcel carrier of FIG. 2 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 7 schematically depicts a bottom view of the UAV chassis and parcel carrier of FIG. 2 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 8 schematically depicts a cross-sectional view of the UAV chassis' retaining member assembly according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 9 schematically depicts a perspective view of the parcel carrier of FIG. 5 and a parcel according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 10 schematically depicts a front view of the UAV of FIG. 1 and various sensors according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 11 schematically depicts a top perspective view of the UAV of FIG. 1 and ground landing sensors according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 12 schematically depicts a UAV control system according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 13 schematically depicts a parcel carrier controller according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 14 schematically depicts a top perspective view of the UAV of FIG. 1 and ground landing sensors according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 15 schematically depicts a top perspective view of the UAV of FIG. 1 and ground landing sensors according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 16 schematically depicts perspective view of a parcel according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 17 schematically depicts a perspective view of a parcel carrier and a parcel according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 18 schematically depicts a perspective view of a parcel carrier and a parcel according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 19 schematically depicts a perspective view of a parcel carrier and a parcel housing according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 20 schematically depicts a perspective view of a parcel carrier and another parcel housing according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 21A schematically depicts a side view of the parcel housing of FIG. 20 in a closed position according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 21B schematically depicts a side view of the parcel housing of FIG. 20 in a closed position according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 22 schematically depicts a bottom perspective view of a UAV including landing arms according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 23A schematically depicts a front view of another UAV chassis and parcel carrier according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 23B schematically depicts a front view of another UAV chassis and parcel carrier according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 24 schematically depicts a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 including a UAV support mechanism according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 25 schematically depicts a perspective view of the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 24 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 26A schematically depicts a section view of the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 25 along section 26A-26A according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 26B schematically depicts an enlarged section view of the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 26A according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 27 schematically depicts a conveyor controller according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 28 schematically depicts a front view of opposing rails of the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 24 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 29 schematically depicts a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 including racks according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 30 schematically depicts a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 including robots according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 31 schematically depicts a robot controller according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 32 schematically depicts a perspective view of an automated parcel carrier/parcel connection system according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 33 schematically depicts a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 and a parcel conveyor according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 34 schematically depicts the parcel conveyor of FIG. 33 and the robot of FIG. 30 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 35A schematically depicts a perspective view of a robot loading a parcel and parcel carrier to the rack of FIG. 29 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 35B schematically depicts a perspective view of a robot loading a parcel and parcel carrier to the rack of FIG. 29 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 35C schematically depicts a perspective view of a robot loading a parcel and parcel carrier to the rack of FIG. 29 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 36 schematically depicts a perspective view of the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 25 including UAVs according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 37 schematically depicts a section view of the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 36 along section 37-37 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 38A schematically depicts a parcel being loaded to a UAV chassis with the robot of FIG. 30 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 38B schematically depicts a parcel being loaded to a UAV chassis with the robot of FIG. 30 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 38C schematically depicts a parcel being loaded to a UAV chassis with the robot of FIG. 30 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 39 schematically depicts a rear perspective view of the vehicle of FIG. 1 and the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 24 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 40 schematically depicts a side view of the UAV and the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 24 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 41 schematically depicts a front view of the opposing rails of FIG. 28 and a UAV according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 42A schematically depicts a perspective view of the robot of FIG. 30 removing a parcel carrier from a UAV chassis and moving the parcel carrier to the rack according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 42B schematically depicts a perspective view of the robot of FIG. 30 removing a parcel carrier from a UAV chassis and moving the parcel carrier to the rack according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 43 schematically depicts a rear perspective view of another vehicle including racks according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 44 schematically depicts a front perspective view of another vehicle including the UAV support mechanism of FIG. 24 according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 45A schematically depicts a rear perspective view of a vehicle including a landing pad according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 45B schematically depicts a front perspective view of another vehicle including a landing pad according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 46 schematically depicts the interconnectivity of computing entities according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 47 schematically depicts a central computing entity according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 48 schematically depicts a user computing entity according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 49 schematically depicts UAV computing entity according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 50 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 51 schematically depicts a region including one or more serviceable points according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 52 schematically depicts a region including one or more serviceable points according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 53 schematically depicts a region including one or more serviceable points according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 54 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 55 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 56 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 57 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 58 schematically depicts a serviceable point according to one embodiment shown and described herein;

FIG. 59 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 60 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 61 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 62 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 63 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 64 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein;

FIG. 66 schematically depicts a flowchart illustrating operations and processes that can be used in accordance with various embodiments shown and described herein; and

FIG. 67 schematically depicts a table of data stored in the central computing entity of FIG. 47 according to one embodiment shown and described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some, but not all embodiments are shown. Indeed, these inventions described herein may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicable legal requirements. The term “or” is used herein in both the alternative and conjunctive sense, unless otherwise indicated. The terms “illustrative” and “exemplary” are used to be examples with no indication of quality level. And terms are used both in the singular and plural forms interchangeably. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

As used herein, the vertical direction (e.g., the +/−Z-direction as depicted) refers to the upward/downward direction of various components described herein. The longitudinal direction (e.g., the +/−X-direction as depicted) refers to the forward/rearward direction of the components described herein and is transverse to the vertical direction. The lateral direction (e.g., the +/−Y-direction as depicted) refers to the cross-wise direction of the components described herein and is transverse to the vertical direction and the longitudinal direction. Similarly, the terms pick-up and delivery can be used interchangeably. That is, while many embodiments are described in the delivery context, the same or similar features and functionality may apply to the pick-up context.

As used herein, the term “parcel” may include any tangible and/or physical object. In one embodiment, a parcel may be or be enclosed in one or more parcels, envelopes, parcels, bags, containers, loads, crates, parcels banded together, vehicle parts, pallets, drums, the like, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. Such parcels may include the ability to communicate (e.g., via a chip (e.g., an integrated circuit chip), RFID, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and any other suitable communication techniques, standards, or protocols) with one another and/or communicate with various computing entities for a variety of purposes. In this regard, in some example embodiments, a parcel may communicate send “to” address information/data, received “from” address information/data, unique identifier codes, and/or various other information/data.

1. OVERVIEW

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to an enhanced parcel delivery system for efficiently delivering parcels in a variety of environments. As described in detail herein, the enhanced parcel delivery system is generally comprised of a primary parcel delivery vehicle, such as a conventional parcel delivery truck, and a plurality of auxiliary delivery vehicles, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (“UAVs” or “drones”). As described in relation to particular embodiments, a parcel delivery vehicle is adapted to act as a mobile hub for a fleet of UAVs configured for delivering parcels from the delivery vehicle to a delivery point/location (e.g., a home address or business). In particular, the parcel delivery vehicle is configured both for storing parcels to be delivered via a UAV and for providing a takeoff (e.g., launch) and landing platform for the UAVs to depart from and return to the delivery vehicle. To facilitate delivery of parcels by the UAVs from the delivery vehicle, a number of novel systems have been developed, including—as just some examples—systems for securing parcels to the UAVs and releasing parcels from the UAVs, systems for powering the UAVs, systems for managing parcels within the delivery vehicle for delivery by a UAV, and systems for guiding, controlling, and managing UAV-based deliveries. Each of these novel systems, among various other improvements, are described in greater detail herein.

As will be appreciated from the present disclosure, the various embodiments of the enhanced parcel delivery system offer a number of advantages. For example, the use of UAVs to deliver packages from a mobile hub in form of a delivery vehicle offers greatly enhanced flexibility in the delivery of parcels in a variety of environments. In particular, UAVs can traverse various geographic areas quickly and more efficiently than a road-going vehicles. Moreover, the enhanced parcel delivery system enables multiple deliveries by multiple UAVs to occur simultaneously.

The use of UAVs launched from a common delivery vehicle also conserves fuel, particular in embodiments where the UAVs are battery powered. Moreover, UAV-based deliveries improve the efficiency of human resources, enabling—for example—a single driver or delivery person to manage the delivery or more parcels in less time. UAVs-based deliveries, particularly from a mobile hub in the form of a delivery vehicle, enable greater flexibility in package routing and fleet management.

Likewise, convenience for parcel users (e.g., consignees) is also enhanced. As described herein, the consignee of a UAV-delivered parcel can set particular locations and times for delivery and receive up-to-date and interactive information relating to the delivery process. Various embodiments of the enhanced parcel delivery system will be now be described in detail with reference to the figures provided herein.

2. ENHANCED PARCEL DELIVERY SYSTEM

FIG. 1 shows an enhanced parcel delivery system 2 according to one embodiment. In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the parcel delivery system 2 comprises a primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and a plurality of UAVs 100 configured to deliver parcels 300 from the vehicle 10. According to various embodiments, the UAVs 100 are configured to be dispatched from the vehicle 10, deliver parcels 300 to consignee locations, and return to the vehicle 10.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 is a parcel delivery truck configured to be manually driven by a parcel delivery driver. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the parcel delivery vehicle 10 may be autonomous, as will be described in greater detail herein. The delivery vehicle 10 defines an interior package cabin for storing a plurality of parcels to be delivered by the UAVs 100. As will be recognized, although the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 is described as a terrestrial vehicle, the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 may be a manned or an unmanned terrestrial vehicle, aerial vehicle, nautical vehicle, and/or the like. For example, such vehicles may include a tractor, a truck, a car, a motorcycle, a moped, a Segway, a bicycle, a golf cart, a hand truck, a cart, a trailer, a tractor and trailer combination, a van, a flatbed truck, a vehicle, a drone, an airplane, a helicopter, a barge, a boat, and/or any other form of object for moving or transporting people and/or items (e.g., one or more packages, parcels, bags, containers, loads, crates, items banded together, vehicle parts, pallets, drums, the like, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably). The primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 may be a hybrid vehicle for standard, manual deliveries by a driver and UAV deliveries, helping the driver handle deliveries along a route. Alternatively, the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 may be a manned or unmanned delivery vehicle dedicated solely to UAV deliveries.

In embodiment, the delivery vehicle's roof panel includes UAV support mechanisms 400 that serve as parcel loading points and which are configured to enable the UAVs 100 to takeoff from, and land on, the delivery vehicle 10. As will be explained in further detail, the delivery vehicle 10 is configured such that parcels stored in the delivery vehicle's interior package cabin can be secured to one of the UAVs 100 in an automated fashion, such that the UAV to which a particular parcel is secured can then take off from the roof panel of the vehicle 10, deliver the parcel to a delivery location, and return to the vehicle 10 for landing on the roof panel. In this way, the delivery vehicle 10 functions as a mobile hub for UAV-based parcel deliveries. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the UAVs 100 may take off from, and may return to and land on a building or other structure, such as a warehouse.

Various components and features of the enhanced parcel delivery system 2 will now be described in turn in greater detail.

A. Parcel Delivery UAV & Parcel Carrier

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a parcel delivery UAV 100 and a parcel carrier 200, which is configured to be coupled to the UAV 100 and to engage a parcel to enable UAV-based delivery of the parcel. As will be discussed in greater detail herein, the parcel carrier 200 is configured for being removably secured to the UAV 100 for transporting a parcel 300 (FIG. 1) and may include a power supply configured to power the UAV 100 when the parcel carrier 200 is engaged with the UAV 100.

i. Parcel Delivery UAV

As shown in FIG. 2, the parcel delivery UAV 100 generally comprises a UAV chassis 110 and a plurality of propulsion members 102 extending outwardly from the UAV chassis. The UAV chassis 110 generally defines a body of the UAV 100, which the propulsion members 102 are configured to lift and guide during flight. The propulsion members 102 may be operable between an “on” configuration, in which the propulsion members 102 provide lift to the UAV 100, and an “off” configuration, in which the propulsion members are stationary and/or do not provide lift to the UAV 100. According to various embodiments, the UAV chassis 110 may be formed from any material of suitable strength and weight (including sustainable and reusable materials), including but not limited to composite materials, aluminum, titanium, polymers, and/or the like, and can be formed through any suitable process.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 2, the UAV 100 is a hexacopter and includes six separate propulsion members 102, each extending outwardly from the UAV chassis 110. However, as will be appreciated from the description herein, the UAV 100 may include any number of propulsion members suitable to provide lift and guide the UAV 100 during flight.

FIG. 3 shows a top view of the UAV 100, in which the propulsion members 102 are again shown extending outwardly from the perimeter of the UAV chassis 110. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 3, each of the plurality of propulsion members 102 includes a propeller 103 that is positioned within a propeller guard 108. Each propeller 103 is comprised of a plurality of blades that are configured to rotate within the propeller guard 108 to provide lift and facilitate flight of the UAV 100. In the illustrated embodiment, the propeller guards 108 circumscribe the propellers 103 as the propellers 103 rotate, which may assist in preventing inadvertent contact between the propellers 103 and various objects that the UAV 100 may encounter during flight. While the embodiment depicted in FIG. 3 depicts the propellers 103 as including three blades that are configured to rotate within the propeller guards 108, it should be understood that the propellers 103 may include any suitable number of blades configured to rotate within the propeller guards 108 and provide sufficient lift to the UAV 100.

In the illustrated embodiment, the propulsion members 102 are electrically powered (e.g., by an electric motor that controls the speed at which the propellers 103 rotate). However, as will be recognized, the propulsion members 102 may be powered by internal combustion engines driving an alternator, hydrogen fuel-cells, and/or the like. Each of the propulsion members 102 is pivotally coupled to the UAV chassis 110 at a motorized joint 104, such that each of the propulsion members 102 may rotate with respect to the UAV chassis 110. In particular, as shown in FIG. 3, each of the motorized joints 104 defines a joint axis 105 about which its respective propulsion member 102 rotates relative to the UAV chassis 110. By rotating with respect to the UAV chassis 110 about the axis 105, the propulsion members 102 may direct their respective lift forces to maneuver the UAV 100 during flight. Moreover, as described in greater detail herein, the ability of the propulsion members 102 to pivot relative to the UAV chassis 110 enables the propulsion members to maintain the UAV chassis 110 in a constant or near constant orientation relative to the parcel carrier 200 and parcel 300 to prevent undesirable movement of goods positioned within the parcel 300.

FIG. 4 shows a bottom perspective view of the UAV 100. As shown in FIG. 4, the UAV chassis 110 generally defines an upper portion 114, a lower portion 118 (positioned below the upper portion 114), and a reduced width portion 115 (positioned vertically between the upper portion 114 and the lower portion 118). In the illustrated embodiment, the propulsion members 102 are coupled to and extend around a perimeter of the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis 110. Additionally, as described in greater detail herein, the UAV chassis' upper portion 114 houses the UAV's control system 150.

The lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110 is configured to receive and engage the parcel carrier 200 (FIG. 2). As such, the lower portion 118 may alternatively be referred to herein as the “carrier receiving portion” of the UAV 100. In the illustrated embodiment, the lower portion 118 extends downwardly from the UAV chassis' upper portion 114 and resembles a hollow, oblique pyramid-shaped member. The lower portion 118 defines an internal cavity 119 that extends upward into the lower portion 118. The internal cavity 119 defines a bottom opening 117 through which the internal cavity 119 may be accessed. As will be described in greater detail herein, at least a portion of the parcel carrier 200 (FIG. 2) may be inserted through the opening 117 and into the internal cavity 119 in order to selectively couple the parcel carrier 200 to the UAV chassis 110.

As shown in FIG. 4, the UAV 100 also includes at least one UAV electrical interface 130 positioned within the lower portion's internal cavity 119. The electrical interface 130 comprises an electrical terminal, electrical contact, and/or the like, that is electrically coupled to the propulsion members 102. In the illustrated embodiment, the UAV electrical interface 130 provides an electrical connection to a power source (e.g., located in the parcel carrier 200) to provide electrical power to the propulsion members 102, as will be described in greater detail herein.

FIG. 5 shows a side-view of the UAV 100 and a perspective view of the parcel carrier 200. In the illustrated embodiment, the UAV chassis' upper portion 114, lower portion 118, and reduced width portion 115 define a generally hourglass shape. In particular, the upper portion 114 and the lower portion 118 have a greater width (evaluated in the lateral and/or the longitudinal direction) as compared to the reduced width portion 115. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5, the width of the upper portion 114 is tapered in the downward direction, such that the width of the upper portion 114 gradually reduces as it meets the reduced width portion 115. Similarly, the width of the lower portion 118 is tapered in the upward direction, such that the width of the lower portion 118 gradually increases away from the reduced width portion 115. As will be described in greater detail herein, the hourglass-profile of the UAV chassis 110 enables it to engage the UAV support mechanism 400 provided on the roof panel of the parcel delivery vehicle 10, thereby enabling takeoff from and landing on the vehicle's roof. The UAV support mechanism 400 may secure the UAV chassis 110 to the vehicles roof such that the UAV chassis 110 may remain secured to the vehicle 10 as the vehicle 10 moves.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the UAV 100 further includes landing gear 116. In the illustrated embodiment, the landing gear 116 are provided on an underside or downward-facing side of the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis. In the illustrated embodiment, the landing gear 116 comprise a pair of rollers oriented to face downward in the vertical direction. In some embodiments, the rollers of the landing gear 116 may be powered such that the landing gear 116 may propel the UAV chassis along the UAV support mechanism 400. As will be described in greater detail herein, the landing gear 116 are configured to engage opposing rails of the UAV support mechanism 400 positioned on the vehicle 10 (FIG. 1) as the UAV 100 takes off and lands to the vehicle 10.

In various other embodiments, the landing gear 116 may also be positioned on opposite sides of the reduced width portion 115 of the UAV chassis in the lateral direction such that the landing gear 116 straddle the reduced width portion 115. Furthermore, in various other embodiments, the landing gear 116 may comprise other devices configured for engaging the opposing rails of the UAV support mechanism 400, such as bearings, casters, and/or the like, that rotate with respect to the UAV chassis 110, which may assist in moving the UAV chassis 110 with respect to opposing rails of the vehicle 10 (FIG. 1). Alternatively, in some embodiments, the landing gear 116 may include skids or pads coupled to the UAV chassis 110 which are configured to engage and slide along the pair of opposing rails of the vehicle 10 (FIG. 1), as will be described in greater detail herein. In embodiments, the landing gear 116 may be formed from a resilient material that may elastically deform when the UAV 100 is engaged with the opposing rails of the vehicle 10 (FIG. 1).

ii. Parcel Carrier

As shown in FIG. 5, the parcel carrier 200 comprises an engagement housing 210 and a parcel carrying mechanism 229 including a pair of parcel carrying arms 230 extending outwardly from the engagement housing 210. According to various embodiments, the parcel carrier's engagement housing 210 defines a shape that is generally complimentary and corresponds to the interior cavity 119 of the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 5, the engagement housing 210 defines a generally oblique pyramid-shape that is complementary to the UAV chassis' inner cavity 119. As a result, the engagement housing 210 may be inserted into the cavity 119 of the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110 in order to selectively secure the parcel carrier 200 to the UAV 100 (as discussed further in relation to FIG. 7 herein). As shown in FIG. 5, the engagement housing 210 defines a greater width (evaluated in the lateral direction) at its bottom portion as compared to its width at its top portion.

In the illustrated embodiment, the parcel carrier's engagement housing 210 includes a power supply 214 configured to power the UAV 100 and parcel carrier 200. In particular, the power supply 214 is configured to power the UAV 100 and parcel carrier 200 when the engagement housing 210 is engaged within the inner cavity 119 of the UAV chassis' lower portion 118. In the illustrated embodiment, the power supply 214 comprises a battery. However, as will be appreciated from the description herein, the power supply 214 may comprise any suitable device for providing electrical power to the UAV 100 and parcel carrier 200 (e.g., a hydrogen fuel cell, and/or the like).

As shown in FIG. 5, the parcel carrier 200 includes at least one carrier electrical interface 220 positioned on an upper surface of its engagement housing 210. The carrier electrical interface 220 includes an electrical terminal, electrical contact, and/or the like that is electrically coupled to the power supply 214. In particular, the at least one carrier electrical interface 220 is configured to interface with UAV electrical interface 130 (FIG. 4) when the parcel carrier 200 is secured to the UAV 100, thereby electrically coupling the power supply 214 to the UAV chassis 110 and providing power to the propulsion members 102.

As explained in greater detail herein, the propulsion members 102 provide lift to the UAV 100, expending electrical energy and depleting the charge and/or power of the power supply 214. As the engagement housing 210, and accordingly the power supply 214, is removable from the UAV chassis 110, engagement housings 210 with depleted power supplies 214 may be replaced with engagement housings 210 having charged power supplies 214. By periodically replacing the power supply 214, the UAV 100 may be provided with continuously sufficient power to perform repeated deliveries. According to certain embodiments, as the power supply 214 is included within the engagement housing 210—which is configured to be selectively coupled to a parcel 300 (FIG. 9)—the power supply 214 may be replaced to the UAV 100 each time a parcel 300 is delivered, as will be described in greater detail herein.

As shown in FIG. 5, the parcel carrier's pair of parcel carrying arms 230 extend outwardly from lateral sides of the engagement housing 210. In particular, in the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 5, the parcel carrying arms 230 extend outwardly from a lower portion of the engagement housing 210. As discussed in greater detail herein, this leaves the engagement housing 210 substantially unencumbered in order to permit engagement with the lower portion 118 of the UAV housing 110.

In the illustrated embodiment, the parcel carrier 200 is substantially symmetrical and the parcel carrying arms 230 on the opposite sides engagement housing 210 are substantially the same. As shown in FIG. 5, the parcel carrying arms 230 each include an upper portion 232 extending laterally outward from the engagement housing 210, a lower portion 234 that extends downward from the upper portion 232, and parcel rails 235 that are positioned on the bottom portion of the lower portion 234 and that are oriented transverse to the lower portion 234. A plurality of pins 236 extend inward from the parcel rails 235 toward the parcel 300 in the lateral direction, and are selectively positioned to engage corresponding apertures 312 defined by the parcel 300 (FIG. 9). The parcel carrying arms 230 and the plurality of pins 236 may be formed of any suitable material to support the parcel 300, such as metal, composites, and/or the like, and may be formed by any suitable manufacturing process, such as casting, forging, and/or the like.

Each of the parcel carrying arms 230 are slidably coupled to the engagement housing 210 such that the parcel carrying arms 230 are movable in the lateral direction with respect to the engagement housing 210. In particular, the parcel carrying arms 230 are repositionable between an inward, engaged position (e.g., in which the parcel carrying arms 230 are engaged with a parcel 300) and an outward, disengaged position (e.g., in which the parcel carrying arms are moved further outward and disengaged from a parcel 300). Alternatively, in various other embodiments, the parcel carrying arms 230 are pivotally coupled to the engagement housing 210 such that the parcel carrying arms 230 are movable in the lateral direction with respect to the engagement housing 210, such as by pivoting about an axis that is parallel with the longitudinal direction as depicted.

In embodiments, the parcel carrying arms 230 may be inwardly biased in the lateral direction, such that the parcel carrying arms 230 are biased toward the parcel 300 (FIG. 9) in the lateral direction. The parcel carrying arms 230 may be inwardly biased by a biasing member, such as a tension spring, a torsion spring, a compression spring, and/or the like. In this way, the parcel carrying arms 230 may be biased into the engaged position, in which the plurality of pins 236 are positioned within the apertures 312 (FIG. 9) of the parcel 300. To move the parcel carrying arms 230 from the engaged position to the disengaged position, the parcel carrying arms 230 are coupled to a motor 213 that is configured to overcome the inward bias of the parcel carrying arms 230, moving the parcel carrying arms 230 outward in the lateral direction into the disengaged position. The motor 213 may be communicatively coupled to a parcel carrier controller 212 that controls operation of the motor 213, and may command the motor 213 to move the parcel carrying arms 230 from the engaged position into the disengaged position. By biasing the parcel carrying arms 230 in an inward lateral direction, the parcel carrying arms 230 may engage parcels 300 having different widths evaluated in the lateral direction.

The parcel carrier 200 further includes a ground probe 250 that extends downward from the engagement housing 210. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 5, the ground probe 250 is coupled to the engagement housing 210 through the parcel carrying arms 230. Alternatively, the ground probe 250 may be directly coupled to the engagement housing 210, or may be directly coupled to the parcel 300.

iii. Engagement of the UAV & Parcel Carrier

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of the view the parcel carrier 200 coupled to the UAV 100. As shown in FIG. 6, when the parcel carrier 200 is installed to the UAV chassis 110, the engagement housing 210 is retained within the inner cavity 119 (FIG. 4) of the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110. In the illustrated embodiment, the engagement housing 210 is retained within the inner cavity 119 by retaining members 120. In particular, FIG. 7 shows an underside view of the UAV's lower portion 118 and inner cavity 119 with the engagement housing 210 inserted therein. As shown in FIG. 7, the retaining members 120 extend inward into the inner cavity 119 of the UAV chassis 110 in the lateral and/or the longitudinal directions, thereby extending beneath the lower surface of the engagement housing 210 and retaining the engagement housing 210 within the inner cavity 119 through mechanical interference. As described above, the engagement housing 210 and the inner cavity 119 of the UAV chassis 110 include complementary shapes. When the engagement housing 210 is installed to the inner cavity 119, the engagement housing 210 may fit partially or entirely within the inner cavity 119, and once positioned within the inner cavity 119, may be retained within the inner cavity by the one or more retaining members 120.

The retaining members 120 are movable with respect to the inner cavity 119 of the UAV chassis 110 such that each of the retaining members 120 move inward into and outward from the inner cavity 119. FIG. 8 provides a cross-sectional side view of one of the UAV chassis' retaining members 120 according to one embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, the retaining member 120 is provided as part of a retaining member assembly comprising the retaining member 120, a biasing spring 125, and a solenoid actuator 127. In the illustrated embodiment, the retaining member 120 defines a sloped sidewall 121 and an upper wall 122. The retaining member 120 is mounted substantially within a wall of the UAV chassis' lower portion 118 and is configured for lateral movement relative to the wall. In particular, the retaining member's ability to move laterally enables to extend inwardly into the lower portion's inner cavity 119 (in an extended orientation) or be recessed into the lower portion wall (in a retracted orientation).

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 8, the retaining member 120 is biased to its extended orientation by a spring 125. In this orientation, the retaining member's sloped sidewall 121 and top wall 122 each extend into the inner cavity 119. When the parcel carrier's engagement housing 210 is inserted into the UAV's inner cavity 119, the engagement housing 210 will contact the retaining member's sloped sidewall 121 and push the retaining member 120 laterally into its retracted orientation. Once the bottom edge of the engagement housing 210 is inserted past the plane of the retaining member's top wall 122, the spring 125 will push the retaining member 120 back into its extended orientation. In this configuration, the retaining member 120 will extend back into the inner cavity 119 such that the engagement housing's bottom edge rests on the retaining member's top wall 122, thereby securing the engagement housing 210 within the UAV chassis' inner cavity 119.

When the engagement housing 210 is to be released from the UAV chassis 110, the UAV control system 150 actuates the solenoid 127, which is configured to push the retaining member 120 in a lateral direction back into its retracted orientation (overcoming the force of the biasing spring 125). This movement retracts the retaining member's top wall 122 into the wall of the UAV chassis' lower portion 118, leaving the engagement housing 210 an unobstructed path to be disengaged from the lower portion's inner cavity 119. According to various embodiments, a plurality of retaining member assemblies of the type shown and described in relation to FIG. 8 may be provided around the inner perimeter of the UAV chassis' lower portion 118. Moreover, as will be appreciated from the description herein, any suitable method of actuating the retaining members 120 between an extended and retracted orientation may be implemented to enable retention of the engagement housing 210 within the UAV chassis' lower portion 118.

iv. Engagement of the Parcel Carrier with a Parcel

FIG. 9 shows a parcel 300 secured to the parcel carrier 200. As described above, the parcel carrier 200 includes parcel carrying arms 230 that extend outward from the engagement housing 210. In FIG. 9, the parcel carrying arms 230 are shown in their inward, engaged position and are securing the parcel 300 to the parcel carrier 200. While one of the parcel carrying arms 230 is obscured by the parcel 300 in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 9, it should be understood that the parcel carrier 200 is substantially symmetrical and the parcel carrying arms 230 on the opposite sides of the parcel 300 are substantially the same.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 9, the parcel carrying arms' plurality of pins 236 extend inward from the parcel rails 235 toward the parcel 300 in the lateral direction, and are selectively positioned to engage corresponding apertures 312 defined on the parcel 300. In the illustrated embodiment, the apertures 312 are pre-formed into the sides of the parcel 300 at locations that correspond to the placement of the pins 236 on the rails 235. However, in alternative embodiments, the plurality of pins 236 may be configured to puncture the side of the parcel 300 during engagement of the parcel 300 in order to form apertures to grip and secure the parcel 300 via the plurality of pins 236. In some embodiments, the apertures 312 are pre-formed into the sides of the parcel 300, and in some embodiments, the apertures 312 may be reinforced to support the weight of the parcel 300 when engaged with the plurality of pins 236. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the plurality of pins 236 may form the apertures within the parcel 300 when the plurality of pins 236 engage the parcel 300. In other words, the pins 236 may pierce the parcel 300 to form the apertures 312. In still other embodiments, the parcel 300 may include perforations or reduced thickness regions that may be pierced by the pins 236 to form the apertures 312.

The parcel carrying arms 230 selectively engage the parcel 300 through engagement between the plurality of pins 236 and the apertures 312, such that the parcel 300 may be selectively coupled to the UAV 100 (FIG. 6) when the parcel carrier 200 is coupled to the UAV chassis 110. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the parcel 300 may include a plurality of pins that may be selectively inserted into apertures defined on the parcel carrying arms' rails 235.

The ground probe 250 is configured to extend downward from a bottom surface 310 of the parcel by a distance ‘d’ evaluated between the end of the ground probe 250 and the bottom surface 310. The ground probe 250 is configured to detect when the parcel 300 is placed on a landing surface, such as when the parcel 300 is delivered to a destination by the UAV 100 (FIG. 5), and may be communicatively coupled to the parcel carrier controller 212.

When the parcel 300 is positioned on a surface, such as when the parcel 300 is delivered to a destination by the UAV 100 (FIG. 5), the ground probe 250 may contact the surface prior to a bottom surface 310 of the parcel 300. As the parcel 300 is lowered toward the surface, such as the ground, the ground probe 250 may contact the surface and deflect and/or elastically deform in the vertical direction. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the ground probe 250 may be a telescoping probe that is collapsible in the vertical direction, and the ground probe 250 may collapse in the vertical direction upon contact with the surface, such as the ground. As the ground probe 250 makes contact with the surface, the ground probe 250 sends a signal to the parcel carrier controller 212, which then commands the motor 213 to reposition the parcel carrying arms 230 from the engaged position into the disengaged position, such that the parcel 300 is decoupled from the parcel carrier 200. In this way, the ground probe 250 may assist in ensuring that the parcel 300 is not released from the parcel carrier 200 until the parcel 300 is positioned on or proximate to a surface, such as a landing surface where the parcel 300 is to be delivered. By ensuring that the parcel is positioned on or proximate to a surface, damage to the parcel 300 may be minimized, as compared to when the parcel is released from the parcel carrier 200 from a height above a landing surface. While the ground probe 250 is described herein as including a probe extending downward from the parcel carrying arms 230, it should be understood that the ground probe 250 may include any suitable sensor for detecting a distance between the bottom surface 310 of the parcel and a surface, for example and without limitation, a proximity sensor, a LIDAR sensor, a SONAR sensor and/or the like.

v. UAV Control System

In various embodiments, the UAV 100 includes a UAV control system 150 that includes a plurality of sensing devices that assist in navigating the UAV 100 during flight. The plurality of sensing devices are configured to detect objects around the UAV 100 and provide feedback to a UAV computing entity 808 to assist in guiding the UAV 100 in the execution of various operations, such as takeoff, flight navigation, and landing, as will be described in greater detail herein.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show the parcel carrier 200 secured to a parcel 300 and further secured to the UAV 100 for delivery. In the illustrated embodiment, the UAV 100 includes a plurality of sensors, including ground landing sensors 162, vehicle landing sensors 164, flight guidance sensors 166, and one or more cameras 168. The vehicle landing sensors 164 are positioned on the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110 and assist in landing the UAV 100 on a vehicle 10 (FIG. 1) as will be described in greater detail herein. The vehicle landing sensors 164 may include one or more cameras (e.g., video cameras and/or still cameras), one or more altitude sensors (e.g., Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensors, laser-based distance sensors, infrared distance sensors, ultrasonic distance sensors, optical sensors and/or the like). Being located on the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110, the vehicle landing sensors 164 are positioned below the propulsion members 102 and have a line of sight with the opposing rails of the delivery vehicle's UAV support mechanism 400 (FIG. 1) when the UAV 100 approaches the vehicle 10 (FIG. 1) during landing, as will be described in greater detail herein.

The UAV's one or more cameras 168 are also positioned on the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110, on propeller guards 108, on ground probes 250, and/or the like. The one or more cameras 168 may include video and/or still cameras, and may capture images and/or video of the flight of the UAV 100 during a delivery process, and may assist in verifying or confirming delivery of a parcel 300 to a destination, as will be described in greater detail herein. Being located on the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110, the one or more cameras 168 are positioned below the propulsion members 102 and have an unobstructed line of sight to view the flight of the UAV 100.

The UAV's flight guidance sensors 166 are also positioned on the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110. The flight guidance sensors 166 may include LIDAR, LiDAR, LADAR, SONAR, magnetic-field sensors, RADAR sensors, and/or the like and may be configured to “sense and avoid” objects that the UAV 100 may encounter during flight. For example the flight guidance sensors 166 may be configured to detect objects positioned around the UAV 100 such that the UAV 100 may determine an appropriate flight path to avoid contact with the objects. By positioning the flight guidance sensors 166 on the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110, the flight guidance sensors 166 are positioned below the propulsion members 102 and may have an unobstructed line of sight to view the flight of the UAV 100.

Referring in particular to FIG. 11, the UAV's ground landing sensors 162 are coupled to the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis 110. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 11, the ground landing sensors 162 are coupled to the propulsion members 102 at their outer perimeter on their respective propeller guards 108. According to various embodiments, the ground landing sensors 162 are generally configured to detect a distance between the UAV and surfaces positioned within a line of sight 163 of the ground landing sensors 162. For example, during flight, the ground landing sensors 162 may detect a distance between the UAV and a landing surface, such as the ground or the roof of the parcel delivery vehicle 100. By detecting a distance between the UAV 100 and a landing surface, the ground landing sensors 162 may assist in the takeoff and landing of the UAV 100. According to various embodiments, the ground landing sensors 162 may include SONAR sensors, LIDAR sensors, IR-Lock sensors, infrared distance sensors, ultrasonic distance sensors, magnetic-field sensors, RADAR sensors, and/or the like.

In certain embodiments, the ground landing sensors 162 may be pivotally coupled to the propeller guards 108, such that the ground landing sensors 162 may rotate with respect to the propeller guards 108. As noted above, the propulsion members 102 may pivot with respect to the UAV chassis 110. Thus, the ground landing sensors 162 may pivot with respect to the propeller guards 108, such that when the propeller guards 108 pivot with respect to the UAV chassis 110, the ground landing sensors 162 may maintain the line of sight 163 downward toward a landing surface.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 11, the ground landing sensors 162 are positioned outside of a maximum parcel envelope 302 in which the parcel 300 is positioned. In particular, the maximum parcel envelope 302 defines a maximum region in which the parcel 300 is positioned when the parcel is selectively coupled to the UAV 100. When the ground landing sensors 162 are coupled to the propulsion members 102, the ground landing sensors 162 are positioned outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302 defined by the parcel 300, each of the ground landing sensors 162 may maintain an unobstructed line of sight 163 to the landing surface. For example, the ground landing sensors 162 are positioned such that they are outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302 acceptable by the parcel carrier's carrying arms 230.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 12 collectively, the UAV 100 includes a UAV control system 150. The UAV control system includes a UAV computing entity 808 that is communicatively coupled to one or more sensing elements. In general, the terms computing entity, computer, entity, device, system, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or more computers, computing entities, desktop computers, tablets, phablets, notebooks, laptops, distributed systems, servers or server networks, blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processing entities, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, the like, and/or any combination of devices or entities adapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or processes described herein. Such functions, operations, and/or processes may include, for example, transmitting, receiving, operating on, processing, displaying, storing, determining, creating/generating, monitoring, evaluating, comparing, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably. In one embodiment, these functions, operations, and/or processes can be performed on information/data, content, information, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably.

As shown in FIG. 13, in one embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 may include or be in communication with one or more processing elements/components 902 (also referred to as processors, processing circuitry, processing device, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably) that communicate with other elements/components within the UAV computing entity 808 via a bus, for example. As will be understood, the processing elements/components 902 may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processing element/component 902 may be embodied as one or more complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), “cloud” processors, microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities, application-specific instruction-set processors (ASIPs), microcontrollers, and/or controllers. Further, the processing element/component 902 may be embodied as one or more other processing devices or circuitry. The term circuitry may refer to an entirely hardware embodiment or a combination of hardware and computer program products. Thus, the processing element/component 902 may be embodied as integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), hardware accelerators, other circuitry, and/or the like. As will therefore be understood, the processing element/component 902 may be configured for a particular use or configured to execute instructions stored in volatile or non-volatile media or otherwise accessible to the processing element/component 902. As such, whether configured by hardware or computer program products, or by a combination thereof, the processing element/component 902 may be capable of performing steps or operations according to embodiments of the present invention when configured accordingly.

In one embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 may further include or be in communication with memory components/elements—such as non-volatile media (also referred to as non-volatile storage, memory, memory storage, memory circuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). In one embodiment, the non-volatile storage or memory may include one or more non-volatile storage or memory media 904, including but not limited to hard disks, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memory cards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJG RAM, Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. As will be recognized, the non-volatile storage or memory media may store databases, database instances, database management systems, information/data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like. The term database, database instance, database management system, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably may refer to a collection of records or data that is stored in a computer-readable storage medium using one or more database models, such as a hierarchical database model, network model, relational model, entity-relationship model, object model, document model, semantic model, graph model, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, the memory components/elements may further include or be in communication with volatile media (also referred to as volatile storage, memory, memory storage, memory circuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). In one embodiment, the volatile storage or memory may also include one or more volatile storage or memory media 906, including but not limited to random access memory (RAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), fast page mode dynamic random access memory (FPM DRAM), extended data-out dynamic random access memory (EDO DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), double data rate type two synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR2 SDRAM), double data rate type three synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR3 SDRAM), Rambus dynamic random access memory (RDRAM), Twin Transistor RAM (TTRAM), Thyristor RAM (T-RAM), Zero-capacitor (Z-RAM), Rambus in-line memory module (RIMM), dual in-line memory module (DIMM), single in-line memory module (SIMM), video random access memory (VRAM), cache memory (including various levels), flash memory, register memory, and/or the like. As will be recognized, the volatile storage or memory media may be used to store at least portions of the databases, database instances, database management systems, information/data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like being executed by, for example, the processing element/component 902. Thus, the databases, database instances, database management systems, information/data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like may be used to control certain aspects of the operation of the UAV computing entity 808 with the assistance of the processing element/component 902 and operating system.

As indicated, in one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 may also include one or more communications components/elements 908 for communicating with various computing entities, such as by communicating information/data, content, information, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on, processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. Such communication may be executed using a wired data transmission protocol, such as fiber distributed data interface (FDDI), digital subscriber line (DSL), Ethernet, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), frame relay, data over cable service interface specification (DOCSIS), or any other wired transmission protocol. Similarly, the central computing entity 802 may be configured to communicate via wireless external communication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such as general packet radio service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000), CDMA2000 1× (1×RTT), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), Evolution-Data Optimized (EVDO), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), Wi-Fi Direct, 802.16 (WiMAX), ultra wideband (UWB), infrared (IR) protocols, near field communication (NFC) protocols, Wibree, Bluetooth protocols, wireless universal serial bus (USB) protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol.

In embodiments, each of the ground landing sensors 162, the vehicle landing sensors 164, the flight guidance sensors 166, and the one or more cameras 168 are communicatively coupled to a UAV computing entity 808, and in particular the processing component 902 of the UAV computing entity 808. The UAV computing entity 808 may send signals to and receive signals from the ground landing sensors 162, the vehicle landing sensors 164, the flight guidance sensors 166, and the one or more cameras 168. The UAV computing entity 808 is also communicatively coupled to the propulsion members 102 and may command the propulsion members 102 to rotate, and/or may command the motorized joints 104 to pivot the propulsion members 102 to rotate about the joint axis 105.

Moreover, the UAV 100 may include GPS sensors and/or other satellite system sensors for detecting a current location of the UAV relative to an intended travel destination (e.g., a destination location and/or a vehicle). In various embodiments, the UAV control system 150 may comprise a communications port (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G communication ports) such that the UAV control system 150 may communicate with one or more additional computing entities.

Referring to FIGS. 9 and 13, collectively the parcel carrier controller 212 is schematically depicted. The parcel carrier controller 212 generally includes parcel carrier computing entity 807 comprising a processing component 902, a volatile memory 906, a non-volatile memory 904, and a communications component 908, as described above with respect to the UAV computing entity 808. As described above, the parcel carrier controller 212 is communicatively coupled to the motor 213 of the parcel carrier 200, for example via the communications component 908, and controls operation of the motor 213 to move the parcel carrying arms 230 between the engaged position and the disengaged position. The parcel carrier controller 212 is also communicatively coupled to the ground probe 250, for example via the communications component 908, and may receive signals from the ground probe 250 indicating that the ground probe 250 has contacted a surface, such as a landing surface. Furthermore, the parcel carrier computing entity 807 may communicate with the UAV computing entity 808 via the communications component 908 and may exchange data/information with the UAV computing entity 808, for example, a state of charge of the power supply 214 of the parcel carrier 200.

As described above, the communications component 908 may include for communicating with various computing entities, such as by communicating information/data, content, information, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on, processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. Such communication may be executed using a wired data transmission protocol, such as FDDI, DSL, ATM, frame relay, DOCSIS, or any other wired transmission protocol. Similarly, the central computing entity 802 may be configured to communicate via wireless external communication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such as GPRS, UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT, WCDMA, GSM, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, WiMAX, UWB, IR protocols, NFC protocols, Wibree, Bluetooth protocols, wireless USB protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol.

vi. Further Embodiments of the UAV, Parcel Carrier, and Parcel

As can be understood, various modifications and changes to the UAV 100, the parcel carrier 200, and the parcel 300 as described above in FIGS. 1-13 are contemplated. Description will now be made to various alternative embodiments for the UAV 100, the parcel carrier 200, and the parcel 300.

In some embodiments, the UAV 100 may include an independent UAV power source that provides power to the propulsion members 102, and the parcel carrier 200 is used to couple the parcel 300 to the UAV chassis 110. In other words, in some embodiments, the parcel carrier 200 may not include the power supply 214 and/or the power supply 214 may not provide power to the propulsion members 102, and the propulsion members 102 of the UAV 100 may be powered by the UAV power source. Furthermore, when the UAV 100 includes an independent UAV power source, in some embodiments, the power supply 214 of the parcel carrier 200 may provide power to a refrigeration unit of the parcel 300 and may remain with the parcel 300 upon delivery, as will be described in greater detail herein.

FIG. 14 shows an alternative configuration of the ground landing sensor 162. Similar to the embodiment described above and depicted in FIG. 11, the ground landing sensor 162 is configured to detect a distance between the ground landing sensor 162 and surfaces positioned within a line of sight 163 of the ground landing sensor 162. For example, during flight, the ground landing sensors 162 may detect a distance between the ground landing sensors 162, and accordingly the UAV 100, and a landing surface, such as the ground. By detecting a distance between the UAV 100 and a landing surface, the ground landing sensors 162 may assist in the takeoff and landing of the UAV 100. The ground landing sensors 162 may include SONAR sensors, LIDAR sensors, IR-Lock sensors, infrared distance sensors, ultrasonic distance sensors, magnetic-field sensors, RADAR sensors, and/or the like.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 14, the ground landing sensor 162 is coupled to a support member 164 that extends outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302 in which the parcel 300 is positioned. The ground landing sensor 162 is coupled to the support member 164 such that the ground landing sensor 162 is positioned outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302. Similar to the embodiment described above in FIG. 11, by positioning the ground landing sensor 162 outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302, the ground landing sensor 162 may maintain an unobstructed line of sight 163 with the landing surface as the UAV 100 maneuvers. Further, the ground landing sensor 162 may be pivotally coupled to the support member 164 and/or the support member 164 may be pivotally coupled to the UAV chassis 110 such that the ground landing sensor 162 maintains the line of sight 163 with the landing surface as the UAV 100 maneuvers during flight.

Referring to FIG. 15, another configuration of the ground landing sensor 162 is schematically depicted. Similar to the embodiment described above and depicted in FIG. 14, the UAV 100 includes the support member 164 extending outward from the UAV chassis 110. However, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 15, a reflective member 165 is coupled to the support member 164, and the ground landing sensor 162 is coupled to the UAV chassis 110. The ground landing sensor 162 has a line of sight 163 that initially extends outward from the UAV chassis 110 and is redirected downward by the reflective member 165. The ground landing sensor 162 is configured to detect a distance between the landing sensor 162 and surfaces positioned within a line of sight 163 of the landing sensors 162. For example, during flight, the ground landing sensors 162 may detect a distance between the ground landing sensors 162, and accordingly the UAV 100, and a landing surface, such as the ground. By detecting a distance between the UAV 100 and a landing surface, the ground landing sensors 162 may assist in the takeoff and landing of the UAV 100. The ground landing sensors 162 may include SONAR sensors, LIDAR sensors, IR-Lock sensors, infrared distance sensors, ultrasonic distance sensors, magnetic-field sensors, RADAR sensors, and/or the like.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 15, the reflective member 165 is coupled to the support member 164, which extends outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302. The reflective member 165 is coupled to the support member 164 such that the reflective member 165 is positioned outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302. As the ground landing sensor 162 is coupled to the UAV chassis 110 and the line of sight 163 is reflected off of the reflective member 165 positioned at the end of the support member 164, the distance that the support member 164 extends outward from the UAV chassis 110 may be considered when estimating the position of the UAV 100 with respect to a landing surface. By positioning the reflective member 165 outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302, the reflective member 165 may redirect the line of sight 163 of the ground landing sensor 162 such that the line of sight 163 is directed downward in the vertical direction and positioned outside of the maximum parcel envelope 302. Further, the reflective member 165 may be pivotally coupled to the support member 164 and/or the support member 164 may be pivotally coupled to the UAV chassis 110 such that the ground landing sensor 162 maintains the line of sight 163 with the landing surface.

As will be recognized, according to various embodiments, the UAV 100 and parcel carrier 200 (FIG. 5) may be utilized to carry parcels 300 of different sizes and shapes.

Referring to FIG. 16, another embodiment of the parcel 300 is schematically depicted. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 16, the parcel 300 includes a generally cylindrical shape. The shape of the parcel 300 may be adapted to the particular specifications of the goods being transported, and while the embodiment depicted in FIG. 16 includes a generally cylindrical shape, it should be understood that the parcel 300 may include any one of a number of irregular shapes, including, but not limited to, a spherical shape, a triangular prism shape, a conical shape, and/or the like. For example, in some applications, such as when the goods being transported within the parcel 300 are refrigerated or cooled, the parcel 300 may be shaped to minimize heat exchange between the interior of the parcel 300 and the surrounding environment. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the power supply 214 may be configured to remain with the parcel 300 to provide power to a refrigeration unit 217. In other embodiments, the refrigeration unit 217 may include a separate power source positioned within the refrigeration unit 217 that provides power to the refrigeration unit 217.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 16, the parcel 300 is positioned within a rectangular frame 320. The parcel 300 depicted in FIG. 16 is configured to be used with the same parcel carrier 200 described above and depicted in FIG. 9. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 16, the plurality of pins 236 extend inward from the parcel rails 235 toward the parcel frame 320 in the lateral direction, and are selectively positioned to engage corresponding apertures 322 defined by the parcel frame 320. The parcel carrying arms 230 selectively engage the parcel frame 320 through engagement between the plurality of pins 236 and the apertures 322, such that the parcel 300 may be selectively coupled to the UAV 100 (FIG. 6) when the parcel carrier 200 is coupled to the UAV chassis 110. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the parcel frame 320 may include a plurality of pins that may be selectively inserted into apertures defined by the parcel carrying arms.

As described above with respect to FIG. 9, each of the parcel carrying arms 230 are movable in the lateral direction with respect to the parcel 300 and the parcel frame 320 such that the plurality of pins 236 are selectively positioned within the apertures 322 defined by the parcel frame 320. The parcel carrying arms 230 are repositionable between an engaged position, in which the plurality of pins 236 are positioned within the apertures 322 of the parcel frame 320, and a disengaged position, in which the plurality of pins 236 are spaced apart from the apertures 322 of the parcel frame 320. As described above with respect to FIG. 9, the parcel carrying arms 230 may be inwardly biased, and the parcel carrying arms 230 are moved between the disengaged position and the engaged position by the motor 213.

The parcel carrier 200 further includes the ground probe 250 that extends downward from the engagement housing 210. The ground probe 250 is configured to extend downward from a bottom surface 324 of the parcel frame 320 by a distance ‘d’ evaluated between the end of the ground probe 250 and the bottom surface 324. As described above with respect to FIG. 9, the ground probe 250 is configured to detect when the parcel frame 320, and accordingly, the parcel 300, is placed on a surface, such as when the parcel 300 is delivered to a destination by the UAV 100 (FIG. 5), and is communicatively coupled to the parcel carrier controller 212.

Referring to FIG. 17, a perspective view of alternative embodiment of the parcel carrier 200 is schematically depicted. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 17, the parcel carrier 200 includes parcel carrying arms 230 that extend outward from the engagement housing 210. However, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 17, the parcel carrier 200 includes a pair of support flanges 238 that extend underneath the bottom surface 310 of the parcel. While one of the parcel carrying arms 230 is obscured by the parcel 300 in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 17, it should be understood that the parcel carrier 200 is substantially symmetrical and the parcel carrying arms 230 on the opposite sides of the parcel 300 are substantially the same. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 17, the parcel carrying arms 230 include an upper portion 232 extending laterally outward from the engagement housing 210, a lower portion 234 that extends downward from the upper portion 232, and the support flange 238 that extends laterally inward from the lower portion 234. The support flange 238 may be coated with a material having a relatively high coefficient of friction (e.g., high-grip rubber), thereby reducing the likelihood that the parcel 300 may rotate about the lateral direction with respect to the parcel carrier 200. Alternatively, the support flange 238 may extend at least partially in the longitudinal direction to support the parcel 300, thereby reducing the likelihood that the parcel 300 may rotate about the lateral direction with respect to the parcel carrier 200.

In the embodiment of FIG. 17, the parcel carrier's housing 210, upper portion 232, lower portion 234, and ground probe 250 are substantially the same as the embodiment described above with respect to FIG. 9. Accordingly, each of the parcel carrying arms 230 are movable in the lateral direction with respect to the parcel 300 such that the support flanges 238 are selectively positioned beneath the bottom surface 310 of the parcel 300. In particular, the parcel carrying arms 230 may include an inward bias and are repositionable between an engaged position, in which the support flanges 238 are positioned beneath the bottom surface 310 of the parcel 300, and a disengaged position, in which the support flanges 238 are spaced apart from the bottom surface 310 of the parcel 310.

Referring to FIG. 18, further embodiments of the parcel carrier 200 and parcel 300 are schematically depicted being secured to one another. As shown in FIG. 18, the parcel 300 includes a generally cylindrical shape. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 18, the parcel carrying arms 230 directly engage the parcel 300. In the illustrated embodiment, the parcel carrying arms 230 extend around the perimeter 301 of the parcel such that the parcel carrying arms 230 extend below a centerline 303 that bisects the parcel 300 in the vertical direction to support the parcel 300. In other embodiments, such as embodiments in which the parcel carrying arms 230 do not extend below the centerline 303, the parcel carrying arms 300 may support the parcel 300, such as by friction and/or mechanical interference between the parcel carrying arms 230 and the perimeter 301 of the parcel 300. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 18, the pins 236 of the parcel carrying arms 230 engage with apertures 312 defined by the parcel 300. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the parcel 300 may include a plurality of pins that may be selectively inserted into apertures defined by the parcel carrying arms.

As described above, the shape of the parcel 300 may be adapted to the particular specifications of the goods being transported, and while the embodiment depicted in FIG. 18 includes a generally cylindrical shape, it should be understood that the parcel 300 may include any one of a number of irregular shapes, including, but not limited to, a spherical shape, a triangular prism shape, a conical shape, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 18, the parcel carrying arms 230 include a radius of curvature that is configured to extend at least partially around the perimeter 301 of the parcel 300. While one of the parcel carrying arms 230 is obscured by the parcel 300 in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 18, it should be understood that the parcel carrier 200 is substantially symmetrical and the parcel carrying arms 230 on the opposite sides of the parcel 300 are substantially the same. The parcel carrying arms 230 may be formed from a material having a relatively high coefficient of friction between the parcel carrying arms 230 and the parcel 300, thereby reducing the likelihood that the parcel 300 may rotate about the lateral direction with respect to the parcel carrier 200. Alternatively, the parcel carrying arms 230 may extend at least partially in the longitudinal direction to support the parcel 300, thereby reducing the likelihood that the parcel 300 may rotate about the lateral direction with respect to the parcel carrier 200.

Each of the parcel carrying arms 230 are movable in the lateral direction with respect to the parcel 300 such that parcel carrying arms 230 are selectively positioned around the perimeter 301 of the parcel 300. Similar to the embodiment described above with respect to FIG. 9, the parcel carrying arms 230 may be slidably or pivotally coupled to the parcel housing 210. The parcel carrying arms 230 are repositionable between an engaged position, in which the parcel carrying arms 230 are positioned at least partially around the perimeter 301 of the parcel 300, and a disengaged position, in which the parcel carrying arms 230 are spaced apart from the perimeter 301 of the parcel in the lateral and/or the longitudinal directions. Similar to the embodiment described above with respect to FIG. 9, the parcel carrying arms 230 may be inwardly biased, and the parcel carrying arms 230 are moved between the disengaged position and the engaged position by the motor 213.

The parcel carrier 200 includes the ground probe 250 which is coupled to the parcel carrying arms 230 and extends downward from the perimeter 301 of the parcel 300 by a distance “d.” Similar to the embodiment described above with respect to FIG. 9, the ground probe 250 communicates with the motor 213 to selectively release the parcel 300 from the parcel carrier 200.

Referring to FIG. 19, another embodiment of the parcel carrier 200 is schematically depicted. Similar to the embodiments described above, the parcel carrier 200 includes the engagement housing 210 and the power source 214. However, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 19, the parcel carrier 200 is coupled to a parcel carrying mechanism 229 including a parcel housing 360, into which parcels may be positioned for delivery. The parcel housing 360 generally defines an enclosed housing having an opening 361 positioned on a side of the parcel housing 360. The opening 361 is selectively covered by a door 362 that is pivotably connected to the housing 360 and adjustable between an open position, in which the interior of the parcel housing 360 is accessible through the opening 361, and closed position, in which the interior of the parcel housing 360 is enclosed. In various embodiments, the door 362 is moved between the open position and the closed position by the parcel carrier's motor 213, which is controlled by the parcel carrier controller.

The parcel housing 360 further includes bearing rails 364 positioned on a floor of the parcel housing 360, which reduce friction between the parcel 300 (FIG. 17) and the floor of the parcel housing 360, such that the parcel 300 may be easily moved into and out of the interior of the parcel housing 360 through the opening 361.

The parcel carrier 200 further includes the ground probe 250 that extends downward from the engagement housing 210. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 19, the ground probe 250 is coupled to the engagement housing 210 through the parcel housing 360. Alternatively, the ground probe 250 may be directly coupled to the engagement housing 210. The ground probe 250 is configured to extend downward from the bottom surface 365 of the parcel housing 360 by a distance ‘d’ evaluated between the end of the ground probe 250 and the bottom surface 365 of the parcel housing 360. The ground probe 250 is configured to detect when the parcel housing 360 is placed on a surface, such as when the parcel housing 360 delivers a parcel and the ground probe 250 is communicatively coupled to the parcel carrier controller 212.

When the parcel housing 360 is positioned on a surface, such as when the parcel 300 is delivered to a destination by the UAV 100 (FIG. 5), the ground probe 250 may contact the surface prior to a bottom surface 365 of the parcel housing 360. As the parcel housing 360 is lowered toward the landing surface, such as the ground, the ground probe 250 may contact the landing surface and deflect and/or elastically deform in the vertical direction. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the ground probe 250 may be a telescoping probe that is collapsible in the vertical direction, and the ground probe 250 may collapse in the vertical direction upon contact with the surface, such as the ground. As the ground probe 250 makes contact with the surface, the ground probe 250 sends a signal to the parcel carrier controller 212, which then commands the motor to move the door 362 to move from the closed position into the open position. In this way, the ground probe 250 assists in ensuring that the parcel 300 is not released from the parcel housing 360 until the parcel housing 360 is positioned on or proximate to a surface. By ensuring that the parcel housing 360 is positioned on or proximate to a surface, damage to the parcel 300 may be minimized, as compared to when the parcel is released from the parcel housing 360 from a height.

Once the door 362 is in the open position, the parcel 300 (FIG. 17) be manually removed from the interior of the parcel housing 360 via the opening 361 by a parcel consignee. In particular, in some embodiments, when the door 362 is moved into the open position, the UAV 100 (FIG. 5) may maneuver such that the parcel housing 360 is tilted and the parcel 300 moves along the bearing rails 364 and out of the parcel housing 360.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 20, 21A, and 21B, yet another embodiment of the parcel carrier 200 is schematically depicted. In the illustrated embodiment, the parcel housing 360 generally defines and enclosed housing 360 having an opening 361 positioned on a side of the parcel housing 360. The opening 361 is selectively covered by a door 362 and the parcel housing 360 is repositionable between an open position, in which the interior of the parcel housing 360 is accessible through the opening 361, and closed position, in which the interior of the parcel housing 360 is enclosed by the door 362. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 20, 21A, and 21B, the parcel housing 360 includes an upper portion 370 that is pivotally coupled to a lower portion 372 at a pivot joint 366.

Referring in particular to FIGS. 21A and 21B, the parcel housing 360 is depicted in a closed position and an open position, respectively. In the closed position, the lower portion 372 is engaged with the upper portion 370 of the parcel housing 360 such that the door 362 covers the opening 361 of the parcel housing 360. In the open position, the lower portion 372 pivots with respect to the upper portion 370 about the pivot joint 366, such that the opening 361 is spaced apart from the door 362 in the vertical direction and the interior of the parcel housing 360 may be accessed through the opening 361. In particular, as the lower portion 372 pivots with respect to the upper portion 370, the door 362 may remain stationary with respect to the upper portion 370 such that the lower portion 362 and the opening 361 of the parcel housing 360 move downward with respect to the door 362 in the vertical direction. As the lower portion 372 pivots, the lower portion 372 may become tilted with respect to a landing surface, such as the ground, such that gravity may induce the parcel 300 to move downward and out of the parcel housing 360.

The parcel housing 360 further includes bearing rails 364 positioned on a floor of the parcel housing 360, which may reduce friction between a parcel 300 and the floor of the parcel housing 360, such that the parcel 300 may be easily moved into and out of the interior of the parcel housing 360 through the opening 361.

The parcel carrier 200 further includes the ground probe 250 that extends downward from the engagement housing 210. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 20, 21A, 21B, the ground probe 250 is coupled to the engagement housing 210 through the parcel housing 360. Alternatively, the ground probe 250 may be directly coupled to the engagement housing 210. The ground probe 250 is configured to extend downward from the bottom surface 365 of the parcel housing 360 by a distance ‘d’ evaluated between the end of the ground probe 250 and the bottom surface 365 of the parcel housing 360. The ground probe 250 is configured to detect when the parcel housing 360 is placed on a surface, such as when the parcel housing 360 delivers a parcel and the ground probe 250 is communicatively coupled to the parcel carrier controller 212.

When the parcel housing 360 is positioned on a surface, such as when the parcel 300 is delivered to a destination by the UAV 100 (FIG. 5), the ground probe 250 may contact the surface prior to a bottom surface 365 of the parcel housing 360. As the parcel housing 360 is lowered toward the surface, such as the ground, the ground probe 250 may contact the surface and deflect and/or elastically deform in the vertical direction. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the ground probe 250 may be a telescoping probe that is collapsible in the vertical direction, and the ground probe 250 may collapse in the vertical direction upon contact with the surface, such as the ground. As the ground probe 250 makes contact with the surface, the ground probe 250 sends a signal to the parcel carrier controller 212. Upon receiving a signal from the ground probe 250, the parcel carrier controller 213 may command the motor 213 to move the lower portion 372 from the closed position in to the open position, such that the parcel 300 will slide out of the parcel carrier's housing 360 through the opening 361. In some embodiments, the motor 213 may rotate the lower portion 372 from the closed position to the open position. Alternatively, in some embodiments, movement of the lower portion 372 with respect to the upper portion 370 about the pivot joint 366 may be unpowered, and may be induced by gravitational forces. In this way, the ground probe 250 may assist in ensuring that the parcel 300 is not released from the parcel housing 360 until the parcel housing 360 is positioned on or proximate to a surface. By ensuring that the parcel housing 360 is positioned on or proximate to a surface, damage to the parcel 300 may be minimized, as compared to when the parcel is released from the parcel housing 360 from a height.

Referring to FIG. 22 a perspective view of another embodiment of the UAV chassis 110 is schematically depicted. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 22, landing arms 140 are coupled to and extend downward from the UAV chassis 110 in the vertical direction. The landing arms 140 are configured to extend outward from the maximum parcel envelope 312 of the parcel 300 in the lateral and the longitudinal directions, and the landing arms 140 are configured to extend downward below the parcel 300. The landing arms 140 may support the UAV chassis 110 when the UAV 100 is positioned on a surface, such as during landing and takeoff. The landing arms 140 may be relatively flexible, such that the landing arms 140 may elastically deform when supporting the weight of the UAV chassis 110, which may assist in slowing vertical movement of the UAV chassis 110 during landing. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the landing arms 140 may be relatively rigid such that the landing arms 140 do not deform when supporting the weight of the UAV chassis 110. In the embodiment show in FIG. 3, three landing arms 140 are coupled to the UAV chassis 110, however, it should be understood that the UAV 100 may include any suitable number of landing arms 140 to support the UAV chassis 110 on a surface.

Referring to FIG. 23A, a perspective view of another UAV chassis 110 and a parcel carrier 200 is schematically depicted. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 23A, the UAV chassis 110 includes the upper portion 114 and the reduced width portion 115, and the parcel carrier 200 includes the parcel carrier housing 210. However, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 23A, the UAV chassis 110 does not include the lower portion, and the parcel carrier housing 210 is directly coupled to the reduced width portion 115 of the UAV chassis 110. Accordingly, the parcel carrier housing 210 of the parcel carrier 200, and the reduced width portion 115 and the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis 110 form the tapered or hourglass shape that is configured to engage a pair of opposing rails on the vehicle 10 (FIG. 1) as the UAV 100 takes off and lands to the vehicle 10. In particular, the upper portion 114 and the parcel carrier housing 210 may have a greater width evaluated in the lateral and/or the longitudinal direction as compared to the reduced width portion 115. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 23A, the width of the upper portion 114 evaluated in the lateral direction decreases moving downward along the upper portion 114 toward the reduced width portion 115. The width of the parcel carrier housing 210, evaluated in the lateral direction, decreases moving downward along the parcel carrier housing 210, giving the UAV 100 a tapered or hourglass shape when the parcel carrier housing 210 is coupled to the UAV chassis 110.

In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 23A, the UAV electrical interface 130 is positioned on the reduced width portion 115 and is positioned to align with the carrier electrical interface 220 when the parcel carrier 200 is coupled to the UAV chassis 110. The UAV chassis 110 may include the retaining members 120 (FIG. 7) that may selectively engage the parcel carrier housing 210 to couple the parcel carrier 200 to the UAV chassis 110. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the parcel carrier housing 210 may be coupled to the UAV chassis 110 in any suitable manner, such as an electromagnet and/or the like.

Referring to FIG. 23B, a perspective view of another UAV chassis 110 and parcel carrier 200 is schematically depicted. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 23B, the UAV chassis 110 includes the upper portion 114, and the parcel carrier 200 includes a receiving portion 270 positioned above the parcel carrier housing 210. The receiving portion 270 includes an upper portion 271 and reduced width portion 274 positioned below the upper portion 271. The upper portion 271, the reduced width portion 274, and the parcel carrier housing 210 form the tapered or hourglass shape that is configured to engage a pair of opposing rails on the vehicle 10 (FIG. 1) as the UAV 100 takes off and lands to the vehicle 10. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 23B, the width of the upper portion 271 evaluated in the lateral direction decreases moving downward along the upper portion 271 toward the reduced width portion 274. The width of the parcel carrier housing 210, evaluated in the lateral direction, increases moving downward along the parcel carrier housing 210 from the reduced width portion 274, giving the parcel carrier housing 210 and receiving portion 270 an hourglass or tapered shape.

The receiving portion 270 includes an upper portion 271 that defines a cavity 272 which is configured to receive the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis 110. In particular, when the parcel carrier 200 is coupled to the UAV chassis 110, the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis 110 may be at least partially inserted into the cavity 272 of the upper portion 271 of the receiving portion 270. The UAV chassis 110 may include the retaining members 120 (FIG. 7) that may selectively engage the receiving portion 270 to couple the parcel carrier 200 to the UAV chassis 110. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 23B, the UAV electrical interface 130 is positioned on the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis 110 and the carrier electrical interface 220 is positioned within the cavity 271 of the receiving portion 270 of the parcel carrier 200. The UAV electrical interface 130 is positioned to align with the carrier electrical interface 220 when the parcel carrier 200 is coupled to the UAV chassis 110. Additionally, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 23A, the landing gear 116 may be positioned on the upper portion 271 of the receiving portion 270, such that the landing gear are positioned on the parcel carrier 200 as compared to the UAV chassis 110.

B. Primary Parcel Delivery Vehicle & UAV Support Mechanism

FIG. 24 illustrates a perspective view of the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10. In the illustrated embodiment, the primary parcel delivery vehicle is a stepvan (e.g., Workhorse Range-Extended E-Gen truck, Freightliner MT55, or the like). As shown in FIG. 24, the vehicle 10 includes a roof panel 12, which supports a pair of UAV support mechanisms 400. As explained in greater detail herein, the UAV support mechanisms 400 are configured to enable a fleet of UAVs 100 to be dispatched from, and returned to, the vehicle 10 as part of a UAV-based parcel delivery system. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 24, the vehicle 10 includes two UAV support mechanisms 400, however, it should be understood that the vehicle 10 may include a single UAV support mechanism 400, or any suitable number of UAV support mechanisms 400 to dispatch UAVs 100 (FIG. 1) from the vehicle 10.

As shown in FIG. 24, each UAV support mechanism 400 generally defines a takeoff end 402 and a landing region 404 that is positioned opposite the takeoff end 402. In general, UAVs 100 (FIG. 1) may take off from the vehicle 10 from the takeoff end 402, and may return and land on the vehicle 10 at the landing region 404. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 24, the takeoff end 402 is positioned at the rear end of the vehicle 10, and the landing region 404 is positioned at the front end of the vehicle 10, however, it should be understood that the takeoff end 402 may be positioned at the front end of the vehicle 10 and the landing region 404 may be positioned at the rear end of the vehicle 10. Additionally, in some embodiments, the takeoff end 402 and the landing region 404 of the support mechanism may be positioned at the same end of the vehicle 10. While the embodiments described herein include one or more UAV support mechanisms 400 positioned on a vehicle 10, it should be understood that UAV support mechanisms 400 may be provided on, and may be utilized to dispatch UAVs 100 from, any suitable structure, for example, a stationary building, structure, movable cargo pod, and/or the like.

Referring to FIG. 25, a perspective view of the UAV support mechanisms 400 on the roof panel 12 of the vehicle 10 are schematically depicted. Each of the UAV support mechanisms 400 include a pair of opposing rails 410 that extend along the roof panel 12 of the vehicle 10, and the opposing rails 410 are configured to engage the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 4), as will be described in greater detail herein. The opposing rails 410 are generally symmetrical to one another, and extend along the roof panel 12 in the longitudinal direction. Between the landing region 404 and the takeoff end 402, the UAV support mechanisms 400 define a return region 406, a transport region 407, and a supply region 408.

The roof panel 12 of the vehicle 10 generally defines portals or openings through which an interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10 may be accessed. In particular, in the embodiment depicted in FIG. 25, the roof panel 12 defines a return portal 14 and a supply portal 16. The return portal 14 is positioned within the return region 406 of the opposing rails 410 and the supply portal 16 is positioned within the supply region 408 of the opposing rails 410. In operation, when a UAV 100 (FIG. 1) is engaged with the opposing rails 410, an empty parcel carrier 200 (FIG. 2) may be released from the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) and may be deposited within the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10 through the return portal 14. A new parcel carrier 200 and parcel 300 (FIG. 9) may be provided to the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 3) from the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10 through the supply portal 16, as will be described in greater detail herein.

Referring to FIG. 26A, a section view of the UAV support mechanism 400 is schematically depicted along section 26A-26A of FIG. 25. As described above, the UAV support mechanism 400 includes the opposing rails 410 that extend along the roof panel 12 in the longitudinal direction. The opposing rails 410 are coupled to a plurality of support arms 416 that extend upward from the roof panel 12 and the opposing rails 410 are positioned above the roof panel 12 in the vertical direction. By positioning the opposing rails 410 above the roof panel 12 in the vertical direction, a parcel 300 (FIG. 9) may pass beneath the opposing rails 410 when the parcel 300 is coupled to a UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2), as will be described in greater detail herein.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 25-26B a perspective view and section views of the return region 406, the transport region 407, and the supply region 408 are schematically depicted. In the return region 406, the transport region 407, and the supply region 408, the UAV support mechanism 406 includes a conveyor 440 that is configured to move a UAV 100 (FIG. 1) along the opposing rails 410 between the return region 406 and the supply region 408. The conveyor 440 generally includes a plurality of rollers 442 that are positioned within a c-shaped profile 410 a of the opposing rails 410. The c-shaped profile 410 a generally defines an upper rail surface 412 that is oriented to face upward in the vertical direction and a lower rail surface 414 that is oriented to face downward in the vertical direction. The upper rail surface 412 and the lower rail surface 414 may engage the upper portion 114 and the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2), restricting movement of the UAV chassis 110 in the vertical direction, as will be described in greater detail herein. In some embodiments, the upper rail surface 412 may include a communication connection that may be communicatively coupled to the UAV computing entity 808 when the UAV chassis 110 is in the UAV support mechanism 400, allowing notifications/messages to be sent and received from the UAV computing entity 808 to a vehicle computing entity 810, as will be described in greater detail herein.

The rollers 442 rotate with respect to the c-shaped profile 410 a and may engage the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) to move the UAV chassis 110 from the supply region 408 to the return region 406. In embodiments, the rollers 442 may be operatively coupled to a belt 444 that causes the rollers 442 to rotate about a roller axis 445. The belt 444 may be operatively coupled to a conveyor controller 460 that selectively moves the belt 444 to rotate the plurality of rollers 442.

In embodiments, the conveyor 440 further includes a plurality of includes a plurality position sensors 450 positioned along the opposing rails 410. The position sensors 450 are configured to detect the position of a UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) on the conveyor 440, and may include a plurality of proximity sensors, such as capacitive sensors, inductive sensors, hall-effect sensors, and/or the like. The position sensors 450 are communicatively coupled to the conveyor controller 460 and may send signals to the conveyor controller 460, such as signals indicative of a UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) being positioned proximate to one or more of the position sensors 450. In embodiments, the position sensors 450 include a supply position sensor 450 a positioned within the supply region 408 and a return position sensor 450 b positioned within the return region 406. The supply position sensor 450 a is configured to detect when the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) is positioned over the supply portal 16. Similarly, the return position sensor 450 b is configured to detect when the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) is positioned over the return portal 14.

Referring to FIG. 27, the conveyor controller 460 is schematically depicted. The conveyor controller 460 generally includes one or more processing elements/components 462, a motor 464, and one or more communications elements/components 466. The motor 464 of the conveyor controller 460 may be operatively coupled to the belt 444 (FIG. 26B) such that the motor 464 drives the belt 444. The conveyor controller may also be communicatively coupled to the plurality of position sensors 450 and may be communicatively coupled to one or more computing entities via the communications device 466. In particular, the communications device 466 is configured for communicating with various computing entities, such as by communicating information/data, content, information, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on, processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. Such communication may be executed using a wired data transmission protocol, such as FDDI, DSL, ATM, frame relay, DOCSIS, or any other wired transmission protocol. Similarly, the central computing entity 802 may be configured to communicate via wireless external communication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such as GPRS, UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT, WCDMA, GSM, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, WiMAX, UWB, IR protocols, NFC protocols, Wibree, Bluetooth protocols, wireless USB protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol.

Referring to FIG. 28, a front view of the landing region 404 of the UAV support mechanism 400 is schematically depicted. The opposing rails 410 converge in the lateral direction moving from the landing region 404 to the return region 406 and a width between the opposing rails 410 is greater in the landing region 410 as compared to the return region 406 and the transport region 407. By converging in the lateral direction, the opposing rails 410 may assist in guiding the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) as the UAV 100 (FIG. 1) lands to the vehicle 10. Each of the opposing rails 410 include a damper 420 positioned at the landing region 404 of the opposing rails 410. The damper 410 generally includes flexible brushes 422 that elastically deform when contacted by a UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2). In particular, as a UAV 100 lands to the vehicle 10, moving along the landing region 404 to the return region 406, the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) contacts the damper 410. As the UAV chassis 110 (FIG. 2) contacts the damper 410, the forward motion (e.g., motion in the y-direction) of the UAV 100 (FIG. 1) will be slowed by the damper 410.

Referring to FIGS. 28 and 29, in embodiments the opposing rails 410 may be moveable in the vertical direction and/or the lateral direction at the landing region 404. In particular, the opposing rails 410 may be operatively coupled a power source, such as a hydraulic pump and/or the like that allows the landing to move in the vertical direction and/or the lateral direction. By moving the opposing rails 410 in the vertical and/or the lateral direction, the opposing rails 410 may move to match a route/flight path of a UAV 100, such that the UAV 100 may land to the opposing rails 410. In some embodiments, the opposing rails 410 at the landing region 404 are hingedly coupled to the vehicle 10 and/or the conveyor 440 at hinges 441.

Referring again to FIG. 28, the opposing rails 410 include a guidance array 430 positioned in the landing region 404. The guidance array 430 generally includes various devices that may assist in guiding a UAV 100 (FIG. 1) to land on the vehicle 10. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 28, the guidance array 430 includes a visual indicator 432 and a positioning beacon 434. Each of the opposing rails 410 include a visual indicator 432, which may include a light, LED, and/or the like that emits a light (e.g., radiation on the visual spectrum), which may be detected by the vehicle landing sensors 164 and/or the cameras 168 (FIG. 10) to assist the UAV 100 (FIG. 1) in accurately locating the UAV support mechanism 400 when landing to the vehicle 10, as will be described in greater detail herein.

The positioning beacon 434 may emit a signal that may be detected by the vehicle landing sensors 164 (FIG. 10) to assist the UAV 100 (FIG. 1) in accurately locating the UAV support mechanism 400 when landing to the vehicle 10. In embodiments, the positioning beacon 434 may include such technologies may include iBeacons, Gimbal proximity beacons, BLE transmitters, Near Field Communication (NFC) transmitters, and/or the like. While the embodiment depicted in FIG. 28 includes a positioning beacon 434 positioned on each of the opposing rails 410, it should be understood that the positioning beacon 434 may include a single beacon or any suitable number of beacons positioned at any suitable location on the opposing rails 410 to assist the UAV 100 (FIG. 1) in accurate locating the UAV support mechanism 400.

i. Vehicle

Referring to FIG. 29, a rear perspective of the vehicle 10 is schematically depicted with certain panels removed for clarity. As described above, the vehicle 10 includes a pair of UAV support mechanisms 400 positioned on the roof panel 12 of the vehicle 10. Positioned within the interior of the vehicle 10 is one or more parcel carrier support racks 30. The racks 30 support multiple parcel carriers 200 (FIG. 9), as will be described in greater detail herein. Two loading robots 500 are positioned within the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10. The loading robots 500 assist in moving parcel carriers 200 (FIG. 9) within the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10, and each of the loading robots 500 may be associated with one of the UAV support mechanisms 400. The racks 30 are generally positioned along the sides of the vehicle 10, however, the racks 30 may be positioned at any suitable location within the vehicle 10, and racks 30 may be centrally positioned within the vehicle 10.

Referring to FIGS. 29 and 35A, the rear perspective of the vehicle 10 and an enlarged perspective view of one of the racks 30 is shown, respectively. The racks 30 each include outwardly extending arms 32 that extend outward from a base portion 31 of the rack 30. The racks 30 further include a plurality of flange ends 34 that extend upward from the outwardly extending arms 32. The outwardly extending arms 32 and the flange ends 34 of the racks 30 are configured to engage the engagement housing 210 of the parcel carrier 200 and restrain movement of the engagement housing 210 in the lateral and the longitudinal directions. In some embodiments, the racks 30 may also include one or more electrical contacts that may provide electrical charge to the power supply 214 when the engagement housing 210 is positioned in the racks 30, such that the power supply 214 may charge or re-charge when placed within the racks 30. By charging the power supplies 214, the racks 30 may assist in preparing a parcel carrier 200 with an expended power supply 214 for re-use.

Referring to FIG. 30, a perspective view of the vehicle 10 is depicted with the racks 30 removed for clarity. The vehicle 10 includes two loading robots 500, each of which are associated with a UAV support mechanism 400 (FIG. 29). The loading robots 500 are each movable along a horizontal track 502 that extends along the interior of the vehicle 18 in the longitudinal direction. The loading robots 500 each include an upright member 504 operatively coupled to the horizontal track 502, and an end effector 510 coupled to the upright member 504. The upright member 504 extends upward in the vertical direction and generally defines a vertical track 506 extending along the upright member 504 in the vertical direction. The end effector 510 is movable along the upright member 504 in the vertical direction along the vertical track 504. Each of the robots 500 include a parcel identification unit 511 that is configured to scan, read, interrogate, receive, communicate with, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably a parcel identifier and/or a parcel carrier identifier, and the parcel identification unit 511 may be communicatively coupled to one or more computing entities, as will be described in greater detail herein.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 35A, 35B, and 35C, a perspective view of the end effector 510 is schematically depicted. The end effector 510 includes an end effector track 514, a platform 512 positioned on and movable along the end effector track 514, and clamping members 516 positioned on opposing ends of the platform 512. The platform 512 may generally support the parcel 300 and the clamping members 516 may be repositionable between an engaged position, in which the clamping members 516 contact opposing sides of the parcel 300, and a disengaged position, in which the clamping members 516 are spaced apart from the sides of the parcel 300. The clamping members 516 may retain the position of the parcel 300 on the platform 512 of the end effector 510 when the loading robot 500 moves the parcel 300 within the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 35A, 35B, and 35C, the clamping members 516 are positioned on opposing ends of the platform 512 in the longitudinal direction, however, it should be understood that the clamping members 516 may be positioned at any suitable location of the end effector 510 to retain the position of the parcel 300 with respect to the platform 512 of the end effector 510. The clamping members 516 may be repositionable between the engaged position and the disengaged position in any suitable manner, including, but not limited to, electrical power, hydraulic power, and/or the like.

The platform 512 of the end effector 510 is also movable with respect to the upright member 504 in the lateral direction along the end effector track 514. Accordingly, the loading robots 500 are moveable within the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10 in the longitudinal direction (e.g., along the horizontal track 502), in the vertical direction (e.g., along the vertical track 504), and in the lateral direction (e.g., along the end effector track 514). While the loading robots 500 are generally described herein as including three-axis robots, it should be understood that the loading robots 500 may include any suitable robot to move parcel carriers 200 (FIG. 9) within the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle, such as a six-axis robot, and/or the like.

Referring to FIG. 31, a schematic diagram of a loading robot controller 520 is schematically depicted. The loading robot controller 520 is communicatively coupled to various components of the loading robot 500 and generally controls the movement and function of the loading robot 500. The loading robot controller 520 generally includes one or more loading robot processing elements/components 522, one or more memory elements/components 521, and one or more loading robot communications elements/components 524. In embodiments, the loading robot controller 520 may be communicatively coupled to the conveyor controller 460 and/or to the positioning sensors 450 of the UAV support mechanism 400 such that the operation of the robot may be initiated based on signals received from the conveyor controller 460 and/or the positioning sensors 450. For example the loading robot controller 520 may initiate movement of the robot 500 when a UAV chassis 110 is detected over the supply portal 16 or the return portal 14, as will be described in greater detail herein. The communications device 524 is configured for communicating with various computing entities, such as by communicating information/data, content, information, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on, processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. Such communication may be executed using a wired data transmission protocol, such as FDDI, DSL, ATM, frame relay, DOCSIS, or any other wired transmission protocol. Similarly, the central computing entity 802 may be configured to communicate via wireless external communication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such as GPRS, UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT, WCDMA, GSM, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, WiMAX, UWB, IR protocols, NFC protocols, Wibree, Bluetooth protocols, wireless USB protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol.

ii. Loading Parcels/Parcel Carriers to Vehicle

Reference will now be made herein to the loading of parcels to the vehicle 10. As may be appreciated, a sender may send a parcel to a consignee through a carrier. The carrier may transport the parcel to one or more intermediate locations, such as processing centers and/or warehouses, in the process of delivering the parcel to the consignee. In delivery process involving UAVs, the parcels may be attached to a parcel carrier prior to loading the parcel and parcel carrier to a vehicle, as described below.

Referring to FIG. 32, a perspective view of a loading operation of parcel carriers 200 to parcels 300 is schematically depicted. An automated parcel/parcel carrier connection system 600 is positioned within an intermediate location 601. The intermediate location 601 may include a facility, such as a warehouse or distribution center, in which parcels 300 are sorted and dispatched as part of a delivery process. The connection system 600 includes racks 610 in which parcel carriers 200 are stored, a loading robot 612, a transport rail 620, a plurality of parcel carrier clamps 622 positioned on the transport rail 620, a conveyor belt 630, and an engagement clamping mechanism 634 positioned on the conveyor belt 630. The racks 610 may be substantially similar to the racks 30 described above and depicted in FIG. 29. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 32, the racks 610 may also provide electrical charge to the parcel carriers 200, such as when the parcel carriers 200 include the power supply 214. By providing electrical charge to the power supply 214, the racks 610 may prepare individual parcel carriers 200 to deliver a parcel 300 via a UAV 100 (FIG. 1).

The loading robot 612 is substantially similar to the robot 500 (FIG. 30) positioned in the vehicle 10, and is configured to retrieve parcel carriers 200 from the racks 610 and supply the retrieved parcel carriers 200 to the transport rail 620. Similar to the robots 500 (FIG. 30), the loading robot 612 may include a three-axis robot, or may include any suitable robot to move parcel carriers 200, such as a six-axis robot, and/or the like. The loading robot 612 may include a parcel carrier identification unit 613 that is configured to scan, read, interrogate, receive, communicate with, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably a parcel carrier identifier on each of the parcel carriers 200 and that may be communicatively coupled to one or more computing entities. For example, the parcel carrier 200 may include a parcel carrier identifier, such as an alphanumeric identifier or machine readable identifier. Such parcel carrier identifiers may be represented as text, barcodes, tags, character strings, Aztec Codes, MaxiCodes, Data Matrices, Quick Response (QR) Codes, electronic representations, and/or the like. A unique parcel identifier (e.g., 123456789) may be used by the carrier and may be associated with a parcel identifier and/or a UAV identifier to identify and track the parcel carrier as it moves through the carrier's transportation network. Further, such parcel carrier identifiers can be affixed to the parcel carriers by, for example, using a sticker (e.g., label) with the unique parcel carrier identifier printed thereon (in human and/or machine readable form) or an RFID tag with the unique parcel identifier stored therein.

The plurality of parcel carrier clamps 622 are operatively coupled to the transport rail 620, and the transport rail 620 may move the parcel carrier clamps 622 along the transport rail 620 to attach parcel carriers 200 to parcels 300 positioned on a conveyor belt 630. In particular, the loading robot 612 may insert a parcel carrier 200 to parcel carrier clamps 622 on the transport rail 620. The parcel carrier clamps 622 may be inwardly biased such that the parcel carrier 200 is retained within the parcel carrier clamps 622. The inward bias of the parcel carrier clamps 622 may be caused by a biasing member, such as a tension spring, a torsion spring, a compression spring, and/or the like.

The parcel carrier clamps 622, along with parcel carriers 200 that are selectively coupled to the parcel carrier clamps 622 move along the transport rail 620 toward the conveyor belt 630. In embodiments, the parcel carrier clamps 622 are positioned over the conveyor belt 630. The parcel carrier clamps 622 move downward to the conveyor belt 630, where the parcel carriers 200 are engaged with parcels 300 positioned on the conveyor belt 630.

The parcel carrier clamps 622 move downward toward the conveyor belt 630 at the engagement clamping mechanism 634. Upon reaching the engagement clamping mechanism 634, the engagement clamping mechanism 634 may mate the parcel carrier 200 to the parcel 300, such as by pressing the parcel carrying arms 230 inward into the parcel 300. Once the parcel carrier 200 is engaged with the parcel 300, the parcel carrier clamps 622 may disengage with the parcel carrier 200, and continue moving along the transport rail 620.

The parcel/parcel carrier connection system 600 may further include a parcel identification unit 632 that may communicate with a parcel identifier of the parcels 300 that are positioned on the conveyor belt 630. For example, each parcel 300 may include a parcel identifier, such as an alphanumeric identifier or machine readable identifier. Such parcel identifiers may be represented as text, barcodes, tags, character strings, Aztec Codes, MaxiCodes, Data Matrices, QR Codes, electronic representations, and/or the like. A unique parcel identifier (e.g., 123456789) may be used by the carrier to identify and track the parcel as it moves through the carrier's transportation network. Further, such parcel identifiers can be affixed to parcels by, for example, using a sticker (e.g., label) with the unique parcel identifier printed thereon (in human and/or machine readable form) or an RFID tag with the unique parcel identifier stored therein.

The parcel identification unit 632 may include a barcode scanner, a computer vision system, an RFID antenna and/or the like that is configured to read the parcel identifier of the parcel 300. The parcel identification unit 632 may be communicatively coupled to one or more computing entities, and the parcel identification unit may communicate information/data associated with the parcel identifier of each parcel 300 to the one or more computing entities, as will be described in greater detail herein.

Referring to FIGS. 33 and 34, a perspective view of a vehicle 10 being loaded with parcels 300 is schematically depicted. In embodiments, the parcels 300 and attached parcel carriers 200 may be conveyed into a rear opening of the vehicle 10 by a parcel conveyor 700. The parcel conveyor 700 may include a conveyor belt, powered rollers, and/or the like that move parcels 300 and their attached parcel carriers 200 into the vehicle 10. The parcel conveyor 700 may include a pusher mechanism 702 that moves parcels 300 and their attached parcel carriers 200 from the parcel conveyor 700 onto the end effector 510 of the loading robot 500. In particular, the pusher mechanism 702 may move the parcel 300 and its attached parcel carrier 200 in the lateral direction, transferring the parcel 300 and parcel carrier 200 from the parcel conveyor 700 to the end effector 510 of the loading robot 500. Once the parcel 300 and parcel carrier 200 are positioned on the loading robot 500, the loading robot 500 moves the parcel 300 and the parcel carrier 200 to the rack 30 positioned within the vehicle 10.

For example and referring to FIG. 35A, the loading robot 500 may move the parcel 300 and the parcel carrier 200 proximate to an available pair of outwardly extending arms 32 of the rack 30 (e.g., a pair of outwardly extending arms 32 that are not engaged with a parcel carrier 200/parcel 300). The loading robot 500 may move the parcel 300 and attached parcel carrier 200 in the vertical direction such that an underside of the parcel carrier 200 is generally aligned with the outwardly extending arms 32 of the rack 30 in the vertical direction.

Referring to FIG. 35B, upon aligning the underside of the parcel carrier 200 with the outwardly extending arms 32 of the rack 30, the platform 512 of the loading robot 500 moves toward the outwardly extending arms 32 in the lateral direction along the end effector track 514. The loading robot 500 moves the platform 512 toward the outwardly extending arms 32 until the outwardly extending arms 32 are positioned between the parcel carrier 200 and the parcel 300 in the vertical direction.

Referring to FIG. 35C, once the outwardly extending arms 32 are positioned between the parcel carrier 200 and the parcel 300 in the vertical direction, the clamping members 516 of the end effector 510 move from the engaged position to the disengaged position, such that the clamping members 516 are spaced apart from the parcel 300 in the longitudinal direction. The parcel 300 and the parcel carrier 200 may be supported by the outwardly extending arms 32, and in particular, the bottom surface of the parcel carrier 200 may be positioned on the outwardly extending arms 32 with the parcel 300 positioned below the outwardly extending arms 32 in the vertical direction. Movement of the parcel carrier 200 and the parcel 300 with respect to the outwardly extending arms 32 may be restricted by the flange ends 34.

Once the parcel 300 and the parcel carrier 200 are positioned on the outwardly extending arms 32, the platform 512 moves along the end effector track 514 towards the upright member 504 of the loading robot 500, such that the loading robot 500 is prepared to retrieve another parcel 300 and parcel carrier 200 from the conveyor 700 (FIG. 34).

iii. Loading/Unloading to UAV Chassis

Once the vehicle 10 is loaded with parcels 300 their associated parcel carriers 200, the vehicle 10 may be dispatched to deliver the parcels 300, for example as part of a delivery route. When delivering the parcels 300, the UAVs 100 (FIG. 1) are loaded with parcels 300 and their associated parcel carriers 200, as described below.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 36 and 37, UAV chassis 110 are positioned on the UAV support mechanisms 400 of the vehicle 10. Within the return region 406, the transport region 407, and the supply region 408, the UAV support mechanism 400, the UAV chassis 110 are engaged with the conveyor 440. In particular, the landing gear 116 contact and engage with the upper surface 412 of the opposing rails 410, and the reduced width portion 115 of the UAV chassis 110 is positioned between the opposing rails 410 in the lateral direction. Furthermore, the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis 110 is positioned above the opposing rails 410 and the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110 is positioned below the opposing rails 410. In embodiments, the width of the upper portion 114 and the width of the lower portion 118 evaluated in the lateral direction are both greater than a width ‘w’ between the opposing rails 410 evaluated in the lateral direction. As the upper portion 114 and the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110 have a greater width than the width between the opposing rails 410, the UAV chassis 110, the UAV chassis 110 is restrained in the vertical direction when positioned in the conveyor 440.

The conveyor 440 moves the UAV chassis 110, such as through the rollers 442, (and/or the landing gear 116 when the landing gear 116 includes powered rollers) in the longitudinal direction through the transport region 407 and into the supply region 408 of the conveyor 440. Once in the supply region 408, the rollers 442 may stop rotating once the UAV chassis 110 is positioned over the supply portal 16. The conveyor controller 460 (FIG. 25) may detect when the UAV chassis 110 is positioned over the supply portal 16, such as through the supply position sensor 450 a (FIG. 25). Once the UAV chassis 110 is positioned over the supply portal 16, a parcel 300 and attached parcel carrier 200 may be retrieved from the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10 and attached to the UAV chassis 110 to load the UAV chassis 110 for flight.

Referring to FIG. 38A, to retrieve a parcel 300 and associated parcel carrier 200 from the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10, the loading robot 500 positions the end effector 510 of the loading robot 500 below a parcel 300 on the rack 30. In particular, the platform 512 of the end effector 510 is positioned below the parcel 300, and the clamping members 516 may engage the sides of the parcel 300.

Referring to FIG. 38B, with the end effector 510 engaged with the parcel 300, the loading robot 500 lifts the parcel 300 and the attached parcel carrier 200 upward in the vertical direction, such that the parcel carrier 200 is disengaged from the rack 30.

Referring to FIG. 38C, the loading robot 500 then moves the parcel 300 and attached parcel carrier 200 away from the rack 30, and moves the parcel 300 and attached parcel carrier 200 toward the supply portal 16. The loading robot 500 positions the parcel 300 and the parcel carrier 200 under the UAV chassis 110 such that the parcel carrier 200 may be inserted within the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110. The loading robot 500 moves upward in the vertical direction and inserts the parcel carrier 200 within the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110, and the parcel carrier 200 may be retained within the lower portion 118, such as by the retaining members 120 (FIG. 7). Upon inserting the parcel carrier 200 within the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110, the clamping members 516 of the end effector 510 move into the disengaged position, and the end effector 510 may separate from the parcel 300.

Referring to FIG. 39, once the parcel 300 and the parcel carrier 200 are selectively coupled to the UAV chassis 110, the UAV 100 is prepared to deliver the parcel 300 to a destination, and the conveyor 440 moves the UAV 100 from the supply region 408 to the takeoff end 402. Once at the takeoff end 402, the propulsion members 102 of the UAV 100 may power up, and the propellers 103 of the propulsion members 102 begin to rotate such that the UAV 100 may take off from the takeoff end 402 to deliver the parcel 300 to a destination.

As will be described in greater detail herein, the UAV 100 may deliver the parcel 300 to a destination at a serviceable point 5901. Upon successful delivery of the parcel 300 to the destination at a serviceable point 5901, the UAV 100 returns to the vehicle 10 with the empty parcel carrier 200, where it may be re-supplied with another parcel 300 and parcel carrier 200. As will be recognized, the UAV 100 may also pick up one or more parcels 300 after delivery of one or more parcels 300 at one or more serviceable points 5901 (e.g., a multi-stop pick-up and/or delivery).

Referring to FIG. 40, a UAV 100 is depicted initiating a landing on the vehicle 10, such as when the UAV 100 is returning to the vehicle 10 after successful delivery of a parcel 300. In embodiments, the vehicle landing sensors 164 of the UAV 100 detect one or more components of the guidance array 430 such that the UAV 100 may locate the opposing rails 410 of the UAV support system 400. For example in some embodiments, the vehicle landing sensors 164 may detect the position of the visual indicator 432 and/or the positioning beacon 434 of the UAV support mechanism 400. By detecting the position of the visual indicator 432 and/or the positioning beacon 434, the vehicle landing sensors 164 may provide the UAV 100 with an accurate estimate of the position of the opposing rails 410 such that the UAV 100 may navigate toward the landing region 404 of the opposing rails 410.

In various embodiments, the UAV 100 may be configured to only land on the vehicle 10 while the vehicle 10 is stopped. For example, for human-operated vehicles, the UAV 100 may be incapable of predicting the movement of the vehicle 10, and accordingly the UAV 100 may only land to the UAV support mechanism 400 when the movement of the vehicle 10 can be accurately predicted, such as when the vehicle 10 is stationary. In such embodiments, the UAVs 100 may be configured to follow the vehicle 10 at a predetermined distance while it moves until the vehicle 10 comes to a stop.

In various embodiments, the UAV 100 may be configured to land on the vehicle 10 when the vehicle 10 is in motion. For example, when the vehicle 10 includes an autonomous vehicle, the vehicle 10 may predictably move along a predetermined/configurable route, such that the movement of the vehicle 10 can be accurately predicted. In these embodiments, the UAV 100 may land on the vehicle 10 while the vehicle 10 is in motion.

Referring to FIG. 41, a perspective view of the UAV 100 landing on the UAV support mechanism 400. Upon accurately locating the opposing rails 410, such as through the guidance array 430, the UAV 100 navigates such that the upper portion 114 of the UAV chassis 110 is positioned above the opposing rails 410 and the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110 is positioned below the opposing rails 410 in the vertical direction. The tapered shape of the upper portion 114 and the lower portion 118 of the UAV chassis 110 may assist in guiding the UAV 100 such that the upper portion 114 is positioned above the opposing rails 410 and the lower portion 118 is positioned below the opposing rails 410. With the upper portion 114 positioned above the opposing rails 410 and the lower portion 118 positioned below the opposing rails 410, the UAV 100 moves rearward in the longitudinal direction as the opposing rails 410 converge in the lateral direction. The UAV 100 may move rearward in the longitudinal direction under the power of the propulsion members 102 until the UAV 100 reaches the conveyor 440 positioned rearward of the landing region 404.

Once the UAV 100 has landed to the UAV support mechanism 400 and has engaged with the conveyor 440, the propulsion members 102 of the UAV may power down, such that the propellers 103 stop rotating. The conveyor 440 then may move the UAV 100 to the return region 406.

Referring to FIG. 42A, the conveyor 440 moves the UAV 100 to the return portal 14. The conveyor controller 460 (FIG. 25) may detect when the UAV chassis 110 is positioned over the return portal 14, such as through the return position sensor 450 b (FIG. 25). At the return portal 14, the loading robot 500 may engage the now empty parcel carrier 200 with the end effector 510, and the parcel carrier 200 may be selectively de-coupled from the UAV chassis 110. Upon the parcel carrier 200 being de-coupled from the UAV chassis 110, the loading robot 500 may lower the end effector 510, and accordingly the parcel carrier from the UAV chassis 110.

Referring to FIG. 42B, the loading robot 500 may position the empty parcel carrier 200 from the UAV chassis 110 to the rack 30 within the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10. With the empty parcel carrier 200 removed from the UAV chassis 110, the conveyor 440 moves the UAV chassis 110 from the return region 406, and through the transport region 407 to the supply region 408 (FIG. 36), where the UAV chassis 110 may be re-supplied with a new parcel carrier 200 and parcel 300, as described above.

Referring now to FIG. 43, a perspective view of an alternative interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10 is schematically depicted. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 43, the interior compartment 18 of the vehicle 10 includes the racks 30 for use with the parcel carriers 200 (FIG. 17) configured to be delivered by UAV 100 (FIG. 1), as well as racks 41 for conventional parcels 300 that may be delivered manually by a delivery employee. In particular, in such embodiments, the vehicle 10 may deliver parcels 300 via UAV 100, while simultaneously delivering parcels 300 through conventional methods (e.g., by a delivery employee).

Referring to FIG. 44 a perspective view of an alternative vehicle 10 is schematically depicted. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 44, the vehicle 10 includes a trailer, such as a trailer that may be selectively coupled to a semi-truck. The vehicle 10 includes the UAV support mechanism 400 as described above from which the UAVs 100 may take off and land, and may include one or more robots configured to load and unload parcel carriers 200 from the UAVs 100. In such embodiments, the vehicle 10 may be moved to a certain location to deliver parcels 300 and may remain stationary at that location while the UAVs 100 deliver parcels 300 from the vehicle 10. The vehicle 10 may remain in place at the location while the UAVs 100 deliver the parcels 300 from the vehicle 10 until all of the parcels 300 have been delivered from the vehicle 10, or until a delivery has been attempted for each of the parcels 300 within the vehicle 10, at which time the vehicle 10 may be picked up and returned to a serviceable point 5901. Such vehicles may assist in delivering parcels 300 during periods of high-volume, such as during holiday delivery season, supplementing other delivery methods.

Referring to FIGS. 45A and 45B, another embodiment of vehicles 10 are schematically depicted. In the embodiment depicted in FIGS. 45A and 45B, the UAV support mechanism 400 includes a landing pad 40 positioned on the roof panel 12 of the vehicle 10. In such embodiments, the UAVs 100 may land to landing pad 40, as compared to the UAV support mechanism 400 described above. The landing pad 40 is configured to support the UAV 100, and includes a portal through which the interior compartment 180 of the vehicle 10 may be accessed. The vehicle 10 may include the robots 500 (FIG. 30) and the racks 30 (FIG. 29), and may be similarly configured to provide parcel carriers 200 to the UAV 100 at the landing pad 40, as compared to the supply portal 16 and the return portal 14, as described above.

Reference will now be made to the interconnectivity of various components of the enhanced parcel delivery system.

3. COMPUTER PROGRAM PRODUCTS, METHODS, AND COMPUTING ENTITIES

Embodiments described herein may be implemented in various ways, including as computer program products that comprise articles of manufacture. Such computer program products may include one or more software elements/components including, for example, software objects, methods, data structures, and/or the like. A software component may be coded in any of a variety of programming languages. An illustrative programming language may be a lower-level programming language such as an assembly language associated with a particular hardware architecture and/or operating system platform. A software component comprising assembly language instructions may require conversion into executable machine code by an assembler prior to execution by the hardware architecture and/or platform. Another example programming language may be a higher-level programming language that may be portable across multiple architectures. A software component comprising higher-level programming language instructions may require conversion to an intermediate representation by an interpreter or a compiler prior to execution.

Other examples of programming languages include, but are not limited to, a macro language, a shell or command language, a job control language, a script language, a database query or search language, and/or a report writing language. In one or more example embodiments, a software component comprising instructions in one of the foregoing examples of programming languages may be executed directly by an operating system or other software component without having to be first transformed into another form. A software component may be stored as a file or other data storage construct. Software elements/components of a similar type or functionally related may be stored together such as, for example, in a particular directory, folder, or library. Software elements/components may be static (e.g., pre-established or fixed) or dynamic (e.g., created or modified at the time of execution).

A computer program product may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, program code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like (also referred to herein as executable instructions, instructions for execution, computer program products, program code, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). Such non-transitory computer-readable storage media include all computer-readable media (including volatile and non-volatile media).

In one embodiment, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may include a floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, solid-state storage (SSS) (e.g., a solid state drive (SSD), solid state card (SSC), solid state module (SSM), enterprise flash drive, magnetic tape, or any other non-transitory magnetic medium, and/or the like. A non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may also include a punch card, paper tape, optical mark sheet (or any other physical medium with patterns of holes or other optically recognizable indicia), compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disc-rewritable (CD-RW), digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD), any other non-transitory optical medium, and/or the like. Such a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may also include read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory (e.g., Serial, NAND, NOR, and/or the like), multimedia memory cards (MMC), secure digital (SD) memory cards, SmartMedia cards, CompactFlash (CF) cards, Memory Sticks, and/or the like. Further, a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium may also include conductive-bridging random access memory (CBRAM), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), ferroelectric random-access memory (FeRAM), non-volatile random-access memory (NVRAM), magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM), resistive random-access memory (RRAM), Silicon-Oxide-Nitride-Oxide-Silicon memory (SONOS), floating junction gate random access memory (FJG RAM), Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, a volatile computer-readable storage medium may include RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cache memory, register memory, and/or the like. It will be appreciated that where embodiments are described to use a computer-readable storage medium, other types of computer-readable storage media may be substituted for or used in addition to the computer-readable storage media described above.

As should be appreciated, various embodiments of the present invention may also be implemented as methods, apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like. As such, embodiments of the present invention may take the form of an apparatus, system, computing device, computing entity, and/or the like executing instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium to perform certain steps or operations. Thus, embodiments of the present invention may also take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely computer program product embodiment, and/or an embodiment that comprises combination of computer program products and hardware performing certain steps or operations.

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with reference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations. Thus, it should be understood that each block of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations may be implemented in the form of a computer program product, an entirely hardware embodiment, a combination of hardware and computer program products, and/or apparatus, systems, computing devices, computing entities, and/or the like carrying out instructions, operations, steps, and similar words used interchangeably (e.g., the executable instructions, instructions for execution, program code, and/or the like) on a computer-readable storage medium for execution. For example, retrieval, loading, and execution of code may be performed sequentially such that one instruction is retrieved, loaded, and executed at a time. In some exemplary embodiments, retrieval, loading, and/or execution may be performed in parallel such that multiple instructions are retrieved, loaded, and/or executed together. Thus, such embodiments can produce specifically-configured machines performing the steps or operations specified in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations. Accordingly, the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations support various combinations of embodiments for performing the specified instructions, operations, or steps.

4. EXEMPLARY SYSTEM ARCHITECTURE

FIG. 46 provides an illustration of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 46, this particular embodiment may include one or more central computing entities 802, one or more networks 800, one or more user computing entities 804, one or more mobile carrier computing entities 806, one or more UAV computing entities 808, one or more parcel carrier computing entities 212, one or more delivery vehicle computing entities 810, and/or the like. Each of these components, entities, devices, systems, and similar words used herein interchangeably may be in direct or indirect communication with, for example, one another over the same or different wired or wireless networks. Additionally, while FIG. 43 illustrates the various system entities as separate, standalone entities, the various embodiments are not limited to this particular architecture.

A. Exemplary Central Computing Entity

FIG. 47 provides a schematic of a central computing entity 802 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The central computing entity 802 can be operated by a variety of entities, including carriers. As will be recognized, a carrier may be a traditional carrier, such as United Parcel Service (UPS), FedEx, DHL, courier services, the United States Postal Service (USPS), Canadian Post, freight companies (e.g. truck-load, less-than-truckload, rail carriers, air carriers, ocean carriers, etc.), and/or the like. However, a carrier may also be a nontraditional carrier, such as Coyote, Amazon, Google, Airbus, Uber, ride-sharing services, crowd-sourcing services, retailers, and/or the like.

As indicated, in one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 may also include one or more communications elements/components 908 for communicating with various computing entities, such as by communicating information/data, content, information, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on, processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like.

As shown in FIG. 47, in one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 may include or be in communication with one or more processing elements/components 902 (also referred to as processors, processing circuitry, processing device, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably) that communicate with other elements/components within the central computing entity 802 via a bus, for example. As will be understood, the processing elements/components 902 may be embodied in a number of different ways. For example, the processing element/component 902 may be embodied as one or more CPLDs, “cloud” processors, microprocessors, multi-core processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs, microcontrollers, and/or controllers. Further, the processing element/component 902 may be embodied as one or more other processing devices or circuitry. The term circuitry may refer to an entirely hardware embodiment or a combination of hardware and computer program products. Thus, the processing element/component 902 may be embodied as integrated circuits, ASICs, FPGAs, PLAs, hardware accelerators, other circuitry, and/or the like. As will therefore be understood, the processing element/component 902 may be configured for a particular use or configured to execute instructions stored in volatile or non-volatile media or otherwise accessible to the processing element/component 902. As such, whether configured by hardware or computer program products, or by a combination thereof, the processing element/component 902 may be capable of performing steps or operations according to embodiments of the present invention when configured accordingly.

In one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 may further include or be in communication with memory components/elements—such as non-volatile media (also referred to as non-volatile storage, memory, memory storage, memory circuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). In one embodiment, the non-volatile storage or memory may include one or more non-volatile storage or memory media 904, including but not limited to hard disks, ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memory cards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJG RAM, Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. As will be recognized, the non-volatile storage or memory media may store databases, database instances, database management systems, information/data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like. The term database, database instance, database management system, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably may refer to a collection of records or data that is stored in a computer-readable storage medium using one or more database models, such as a hierarchical database model, network model, relational model, entity-relationship model, object model, document model, semantic model, graph model, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, the memory components/elements may further include or be in communication with volatile media (also referred to as volatile storage, memory, memory storage, memory circuitry and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably). In one embodiment, the volatile storage or memory may also include one or more volatile storage or memory media 906, including but not limited to RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cache memory, register memory, and/or the like. As will be recognized, the volatile storage or memory media may be used to store at least portions of the databases, database instances, database management systems, information/data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like being executed by, for example, the processing element/component 902. Thus, the databases, database instances, database management systems, information/data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like may be used to control certain aspects of the operation of the central computing entity 802 with the assistance of the processing element/component 902 and operating system.

As indicated, in one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 may also include one or more communications components/elements 908 for communicating with various computing entities, such as by communicating information/data, content, information, and/or similar terms used herein interchangeably that can be transmitted, received, operated on, processed, displayed, stored, and/or the like. Such communication may be executed using a wired data transmission protocol, such as FDDI, DSL, ATM, frame relay, DOCSIS, or any other wired transmission protocol. Similarly, the central computing entity 802 may be configured to communicate via wireless external communication networks using any of a variety of protocols, such as GPRS, UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT, WCDMA, GSM, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, WiMAX, UWB, IR protocols, NFC protocols, Wibree, Bluetooth protocols, wireless USB protocols, and/or any other wireless protocol.

Although not shown, the central computing entity 802 may include or be in communication with one or more input components/elements, such as a keyboard input, a mouse input, a touch screen/display input, motion input, movement input, audio input, pointing device input, joystick input, keypad input, and/or the like. The central computing entity 802 may also include or be in communication with one or more output elements/components (not shown), such as audio output, video output, screen/display output, motion output, movement output, and/or the like.

As will be appreciated, one or more of the central computing entity's 802 elements/components may be located remotely from other central computing entity 802 components/elements, such as in a distributed system. That is, the term “central” is used in the generic sense and is not intended to necessarily indicate a central location. Furthermore, one or more of the elements/components may be combined and additional elements/components performing functions described herein may be included in the central computing entity 802. Thus, the central computing entity 802 can be adapted to accommodate a variety of needs and circumstances. As will be recognized, these architectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposes only and are not limiting to the various embodiments.

B. Exemplary User Computing Entity

A user may be an individual, a family, a company, an organization, an entity, a department within an organization, a representative of an organization and/or person, and/or the like. Thus, as will be recognized, in certain embodiments, users may be consignors and/or consignees. To do so, a user may operate a user computing entity 804 that includes one or more elements/components that are functionally similar to those of the central computing entity 802.

FIG. 48 provides an illustrative schematic representative of a user computing entity 804 that can be used in conjunction with embodiments of the present invention. In general, the terms device, system, computing entity, entity, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably may refer to, for example, one or more computers, computing entities, desktop computers, mobile phones, tablets, phablets, notebooks, laptops, distributed systems, smart home entities, kitchen appliances, Google Home, Amazon Echo, garage door controllers, cameras, imaging devices, thermostats, security systems, networks, gaming consoles (e.g., Xbox, Play Station, Wii), watches, glasses, iBeacons, proximity beacons, key fobs, RFID tags, ear pieces, scanners, televisions, dongles, cameras, wristbands, wearable items/devices, items/devices, vehicles, kiosks, input terminals, servers or server networks, blades, gateways, switches, processing devices, processing entities, set-top boxes, relays, routers, network access points, base stations, the like, and/or any combination of devices or entities adapted to perform the functions, operations, and/or processes described herein. As shown in FIG. 45, the user computing entity 804 can include communication components/elements, such as an antenna 912, a transmitter 914 (e.g., radio), and a receiver 916 (e.g., radio). Similarly, the user computing entity 804 can include a processing element/component 918 (e.g., CPLDs, microprocessors, multi-core processors, cloud processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs, microcontrollers, and/or controllers) that provides signals to and receives signals from communication elements/components.

The signals provided to and received from the transmitter 914 and the receiver 916, respectively, may include signaling information/data in accordance with air interface standards of applicable wireless systems. In this regard, the user computing entity 804 may be capable of operating with one or more air interface standards, communication protocols, modulation types, and access types. More particularly, the user computing entity 804 may operate in accordance with any of a number of wireless communication standards and protocols, such as those described above with regard to the central computing entity 802. In a particular embodiment, the user computing entity 804 may operate in accordance with multiple wireless communication standards and protocols, such as UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT, WCDMA, GSM, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, WiMAX, UWB, IR, NFC, Bluetooth, USB, and/or the like. Similarly, the user computing entity 804 may operate in accordance with multiple wired communication standards and protocols, such as those described above with regard to the central computing entity 802 via a network interface 908.

Via these communication standards and protocols, the user computing entity 804 can communicate with various other entities using concepts such as Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD), Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), Dual-Tone Multi-Frequency Signaling (DTMF), and/or Subscriber Identity Module Dialer (SIM dialer). The user computing entity 804 can also download changes, add-ons, and updates, for instance, to its firmware, software (e.g., including executable instructions, applications, program modules), and operating system.

According to one embodiment, the user computing entity 804 may include location determining elements/components, aspects, devices, modules, functionalities, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. For example, the user computing entity 804 may include outdoor positioning aspects, such as a location module adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, universal time (UTC), date, and/or various other information/data. In one embodiment, the location module can acquire information/data, sometimes known as ephemeris information/data, by identifying the number of satellites in view and the relative positions of those satellites (e.g., using global positioning systems (GPS)). The satellites may be a variety of different satellites, including Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite systems, Department of Defense (DOD) satellite systems, the European Union Galileo positioning systems, the Chinese Compass navigation systems, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Indian Regional Navigational satellite systems, and/or the like. This information/data can be collected using a variety of coordinate systems, such as the Decimal Degrees (DD); Degrees, Minutes, Seconds (DMS); Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM); Universal Polar Stereographic (UPS) coordinate systems; and/or the like. Alternatively, the location information/data can be determined by triangulating the user computing entity's 804 position in connection with a variety of other systems, including cellular towers, Wi-Fi access points, and/or the like. Similarly, the user computing entity 804 may include indoor positioning aspects, such as a location module adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, time, date, and/or various other information/data. Some of the indoor systems may use various position or location technologies including RFID tags, indoor beacons or transmitters, Wi-Fi access points, cellular towers, nearby computing devices (e.g., smartphones, laptops) and/or the like. For instance, such technologies may include the iBeacons, Gimbal proximity beacons, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) transmitters, Bluetooth Smart, NFC transmitters, and/or the like. These indoor positioning aspects can be used in a variety of settings to determine the location of someone or something to within inches or centimeters.

The user computing entity 804 may also comprise a user interface (that can include a display 919 coupled to a processing element/component 918) and/or a user input interface (coupled to a processing element/component 918). For example, the user interface may be a user application, browser, user interface, interface, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably executing on and/or accessible via the user computing entity 804 to interact with and/or cause display of information/data from the central computing entity 802, as described herein. The user input interface can comprise any of a number of devices or interfaces allowing the user computing entity 804 to receive information/data, such as a keypad 920 (hard or soft), a touch display, voice/speech or motion interfaces, or other input device. In embodiments including a keypad 920, the keypad 920 can include (or cause display of) the conventional numeric (0-9) and related keys (#, *), and other keys used for operating the user computing entity 804 and may include a full set of alphabetic keys or set of keys that may be activated to provide a full set of alphanumeric keys. In addition to providing input, the user input interface can be used, for example, to activate or deactivate certain functions, such as screen savers and/or sleep modes.

The user computing entity 804 can also include memory elements/components—such as volatile storage or memory 922 and/or non-volatile storage or memory 924, which can be embedded and/or may be removable. For example, the non-volatile memory may be ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memory cards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJG RAM, Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. The volatile memory may be RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cache memory, register memory, and/or the like. The volatile and non-volatile storage or memory can store databases, database instances, database management systems, information/data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like to implement the functions of the user computing entity 804. As indicated, this may include a user application that is resident on the entity or accessible through a browser or other user interface for communicating with the central computing entity 802, mobile carrier computing entity 806, UAV computing entity 808, delivery vehicle computing entity 810, and/or various other computing entities.

In another embodiment, the user computing entity 804 may include one or more elements/components or functionality that are the same or similar to those of the central computing entity 802, as described in greater detail above. As will be recognized, these architectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposes only and are not limiting to the various embodiments.

C. Exemplary UAV Computing Entity

FIG. 49 provides an illustrative schematic representative of the UAV computing entity 808 that can be used in conjunction with embodiments of the present invention. As described above, the elements/components of the UAV computing entity 808 may be similar to those described with regard to the central computing entity 802, the user computing entity 804, and/or the mobile carrier computing entity 806. In one embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 may also include and/or be associated with one or more control elements/components (not shown) for controlling and operating the UAV 100 as described herein. As shown in FIG. 49, the UAV computing entity 808 can include communication elements/components 908, such as those described above with regard to the central computing entity 802 and/or the user computing entity 804. For example, the UAV computing entity 808 may operate in accordance with any of a number of wireless communication standards, such as UMTS, CDMA2000, 1×RTT, WCDMA, GSM, EDGE, TD-SCDMA, LTE, E-UTRAN, EVDO, HSPA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, WiMAX, UWB, IR, NFC, Bluetooth, BLE, Wibree, USB, and/or the like. Similarly, the UAV computing entity 808 may operate in accordance with multiple wired communication standards and protocols, such as those described with regard to the central computing entity 802, the user computing entity 804, and/or the like via the communication elements/components. Thus, the UAV 100 (e.g., the UAV computing entity 808) may be able to communicate with various computing entities—including user computing entities 804 (e.g., smart home entity) to, for example, provide an instruction to open a garage door, provide a notification/message and/or the like. The UAV computing entity 808 may also include one or more processing elements/components 405, including those described with regard to the central computing entity 802 and/or the user computing entity 804.

As indicated, a UAV 100 (e.g., the UAV computing entity 808) may have the ability to operate in accordance with multiple long-range and short-range communication standards and protocols and use multiple wireless carriers (e.g., China Mobile, Vodafone, Telefonica, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, and Qtel). For example, in a single geographic area (e.g., country, region, state, county, city, or town), there may be multiple wireless carriers providing wireless services. Similarly, in communicating with a primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 (or various other computing entities), a UAV computing entity 808 may have the ability to use long-range and short-range communication standards and protocols depending the UAV's 100 proximity to the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or the UAV's 100 operational state (e.g., if the propulsion members 102 active or inactive).

In one embodiment, a central computing entity 802 can manage the access of the UAV computing entity 808 to the plurality of wireless carriers in one or more geographic areas and/or use of the long-range and short-range communication standards and protocols. For example, a UAV 100 associated with the various geographic areas can be activated with the various wireless carriers. Activating a UAV computing entity 808 with wireless carriers may include registering each UAV computing entity 808 with the wireless carriers from which services are desired (e.g., based on the UAV's 100 operating area). With numerous UAV 100 to manage, the central computing entity 802 may provide for an automated activation process. In certain embodiments, it may not be practical for a UAV 100 in a given geographic area to be configured to operate with more than a few wireless carriers. For instance, in one embodiment, it may be sufficient for the UAV 100 to be activated on two wireless carriers: a primary wireless carrier and a secondary wireless carrier. In other embodiments, a third or fourth activation may be justified based on the available wireless services and actual coverage patterns in the geographic area in which a UAV 100 will be used.

In addition to activating the UAV computing entity 808, the central computing entity 802 may be used to configure the UAV computing entity 808 to use the wireless services of wireless carriers and/or the various long-range and short-range communication standards and protocols. To do so, the central computing entity 802 may create and provide a configuration (e.g., a configuration file) for all UAVs 100 operating within a specific geographic area, such as a country, region, state, county, city, town, or other area. The configuration may also provide an order in which the wireless carriers should be accessed and/or the states or proximity to a primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 in which the long-range and short-range communication standards and protocols should be used.

In one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 may create and provide a UAV-type configuration for each type of UAV computing entity 808 used by an enterprise. For example, an enterprise may have different types of UAV computing entities 808, each using different hardware, firmware, and software. Thus, the different configurations may be rather extensive and be customized down to, for example, the individual UAV computing entity 808. In one embodiment, UAV-type configurations may be used to provide the UAV computing entity 808 with, for instance, tuning parameters with build-time embedded default values, such as the number of occurrences of a failed carrier dial-up would be permitted before changing the current wireless carrier (e.g., changing from a primary wireless carrier to a secondary wireless carrier).

As indicated, the configurations may identify a primary wireless carrier and one or more secondary wireless carriers to use for wireless services. In one embodiment, the primary wireless carrier may be the wireless carrier the UAV computing entity 808 should use under normal conditions. The one or more secondary wireless carriers may be the wireless carriers the UAV computing entity 808 can use in the event of communication issues, for example, with the primary wireless carrier. For instance, the UAV computing entity 808 may switch from the primary wireless carrier to a secondary wireless when, for instance, something fails and is not recoverable by establishing a new session with the primary wireless carrier. Identifying the appropriate secondary wireless carrier to be used may be based on a variety of factors, including location, coverage availability, signal strength, and/or the like.

Similarly, the configurations may identify a primary long-range standard/protocol and a secondary short-range standard/protocol. In one embodiment, the primary long-range standard/protocol (e.g., LTE, GSM) may be the wireless standard/protocol the UAV computing entity 808 should use when its operational state is on or active (e.g., when the propulsion members 102 of the UAV 100 are active). The secondary short-range standard/protocol (e.g., BLE, UWB) may be the wireless standard/protocol the UAV 100 should use when its operational state is off or inactive (e.g., its propulsion members 102 inactive). Using the secondary wireless standard/protocol may also be determined based on the UAV's 100 proximity to the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10. For instance, when the UAV 100 is within 100 feet of the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10, the UAV may use a short-range standard/protocol or a dual-band approach until its operational state changes.

In one embodiment, by using multiple technologies and a common control mechanism (e.g., software), the UAV computing entity 808 can manage communications with multiple wireless carriers, using various standards/protocols, and drive the network connections. This may include path switching (e.g., software path switching) accomplished at build-time where different hardware is to be used and/or at run-time where it makes sense to act in different ways over time based on the actual conditions identified. Generally, path switching may refer to branching of software, for example, to address the needs of a specific UAV computing entity 808. Moreover, to adapt to different UAV computing entities 808, conditional compile-time switches can be used to enable blocks of code suitable for a specific UAV computing entity 808.

According to one embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 may include location determining elements/components, aspects, devices, modules, functionalities, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. As previously describe, such outdoor positioning aspects may include a location module adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, UTC, date, and/or various other information/data. In one embodiment, the location module can acquire information/data, sometimes known as ephemeris information/data, by identifying the number of satellites in view and the relative positions of those satellites (e.g., GPS). The satellites may be a variety of different satellites, including LEO satellite systems, GLONASS satellite systems, DOD satellite systems, the European Union Galileo positioning systems, the Chinese Compass navigation systems, Indian Regional Navigational satellite systems, and/or the like. This information/data can be collected using a variety of coordinate systems, such as the DD; DMS; UTM; UPS coordinate systems; and/or the like. Alternatively, the location information/data can be determined by triangulating the user computing entity's 804 position in connection with a variety of other systems, including cellular towers, Wi-Fi access points, and/or the like. Similarly, the UAV computing entity 808 may include indoor positioning aspects, such as a location module adapted to acquire, for example, latitude, longitude, altitude, geocode, course, direction, heading, speed, time, date, and/or various other information/data. Some of the indoor systems may use various position or location technologies including RFID tags, indoor beacons or transmitters, Wi-Fi access points, cellular towers, nearby computing devices (e.g., smartphones, laptops) and/or the like. For instance, such technologies may include the iBeacons, Gimbal proximity beacons, BLE transmitters, Bluetooth Smart, NFC transmitters, and/or the like. These indoor positioning aspects can be used in a variety of settings to determine the location of someone or something to within inches or centimeters.

The UAV computing entity 808 can also include one or memory elements/components 915, which can be embedded and/or may be removable. For example, the non-volatile memory may be ROM, PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, MMCs, SD memory cards, Memory Sticks, CBRAM, PRAM, FeRAM, NVRAM, MRAM, RRAM, SONOS, FJG RAM, Millipede memory, racetrack memory, and/or the like. The volatile memory may be RAM, DRAM, SRAM, FPM DRAM, EDO DRAM, SDRAM, DDR SDRAM, DDR2 SDRAM, DDR3 SDRAM, RDRAM, TTRAM, T-RAM, Z-RAM, RIMM, DIMM, SIMM, VRAM, cache memory, register memory, and/or the like. The volatile and non-volatile storage or memory can store databases, database instances, database management systems, information/data, applications, programs, program modules, scripts, source code, object code, byte code, compiled code, interpreted code, machine code, executable instructions, and/or the like to implement the functions of the UAV computing entity 808.

As indicated, the UAV computing entity 808 may include and/or be associated with one or more sensing elements/components, modules, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. In embodiments, the one or more sensing elements/components include the ground landing sensors 162, the vehicle landing sensors 164, the route/flight guidance sensors 166, and the cameras 168. The UAV computing entity 808 may include sensing elements/components, such as motor/engine, fuel, battery, speed, route/flight time, altitude, barometer, air telemetry, ground telemetry, gyroscope, pressure, location, weight, emissions, temperature, magnetic, current, tilt, motor/engine intake, motor/engine output, and/or carrier sensors. The sensed information/data may include, but is not limited to, air speed information/data, ground speed information/data, emissions information/data, RPM information/data, acceleration information/data, tilt information/data, oil pressure information/data, pressure information/data, rotational information/data, distance information/data, fuel information/data, idle information/data, weight information/data, and/or the like (which may be referred to as telematics information/data). The sensing elements/components may include environmental sensors, such as air quality, chemical, precipitation, temperature sensors, and/or the like. Thus, the sensed information/data may also include carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), Ethylene Oxide (EtO), ozone (O3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and/or ammonium (NH4) information/data, temperature information/data, pressure information/data, and/or meteorological information/data (which may be referred to as weather or atmospheric information/data).

As described above, the ground landing sensors 162 and the vehicle landing sensors 164 may include one or more sonar sensors, light sensors (e.g., LIDAR, LiDAR, and LADAR), magnetic-field sensors, radio wave sensors (e.g., RADAR), thermals sensors, infrared sensors, image sensors, and/or the like. Further, the vehicle landing sensors 164 and the cameras 168 may include one or more image sensors for capturing, collecting, and/or recording image information/data (e.g., sensed information/data). The image information/data can be captured and stored in a variety of formats. For example, the image information/data (including 360° video) can be captured in or converted to a variety of formats, such as Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Motion JPEG (MJPEG), Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), bitmap (BMP), H.264, H.263, Flash Video (FLV), Hypertext Markup Language 5 (HTML5), VP6, VP8, 4K, and/or the like. Such sensed information/data can be captured, collected, and/or or recorded using a variety of techniques and approaches for various purposes (e.g., takeoff, landing, delivery, collision avoidance, routing, and/or the like).

D. Exemplary Delivery Vehicle Computing Entity

Referring again to FIG. 46, the one or more delivery vehicle computing entities 810 may be attached, affixed, disposed upon, integrated into, or part of a primary parcel delivery vehicle 10. The delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may collect telematics information/data (including location information/data) and transmit/send the information/data to various other computing entities via one of several communication methods.

In one embodiment, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may include, be associated with, or be in wired or wireless communication with one or more processing elements/components, location determining elements/components, one or more communication elements/components, one or more sensing elements/components, one or more memory location determining elements/components, one or more power sources, and/or the like. Such elements/components may be similar to those described with regard to the central computing entity 802, the user computing entity 804, the mobile carrier computing entity 806, and/or the UAV computing entity 808.

In one embodiment, the one or more location determining elements/components may be one of several components in wired or wireless communication with or available to the delivery vehicle computing entity 810. Moreover, the one or more location determining elements/components may be compatible with various satellite or navigation systems, coordinate systems, and/or the like. Thus, the one or more location determining elements/components may be used to receive latitude, longitude, altitude, heading or direction, geocode, course, position, time, and/or speed information/data (e.g., referred to herein as telematics information/data and further described herein below). The one or more location determining elements/components may also communicate with the central computing entity 802, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810, mobile carrier computing entity 806, and/or similar computing entities.

As indicated, in addition to the one or more elements/components, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may include and/or be associated with one or more sensing elements/components, modules, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. For example, the sensing elements/components may include vehicle sensors, such as motor/engine, fuel, odometer, hubometer, tire pressure, location, weight, emissions, door, and speed sensors. The sensed information/data may include, but is not limited to, speed information/data, emissions information/data, RPM information/data, tire pressure information/data, oil pressure information/data, seat belt usage information/data, distance information/data, fuel information/data, idle information/data, and/or the like (which may be referred to as telematics information/data). The sensing elements/components may include environmental sensors, such as air quality sensors, temperature sensors, and/or the like. Thus, the sensed information/data may also include CO, NOx, SOx, EtO, O3, H2S, and/or NH4 information/data, and/or meteorological information/data (which may be referred to as weather, environmental, and/or atmospheric information/data).

In one embodiment, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may further be in communication with a vehicle control module or system. The vehicle control module or system, which may be a scalable and subservient device to the delivery vehicle computing entity 810, may have information/data processing capability to decode and store analog and digital inputs from vehicle systems and sensors. The vehicle control module or system may further have information/data processing capability to collect and present telematics information/data to the J-Bus (which may allow transmission to the delivery vehicle computing entity 810), and output standard vehicle diagnostic codes when received from a vehicle's J-Bus-compatible onboard controllers and/or sensors.

As will be recognized, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 can include communication elements/components, such as those described with regard to the central computing entity 802, UAV computing entity 808, and/or user computing entity 804. Furthermore the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may be communicatively coupled to the robot processor 522 and the conveyor controller 460 and may control operation of the robot 500 and the conveyor 440, as will be described in greater detail herein.

E. Exemplary Parcel Carrier Computing Entity

In one embodiment, a parcel carrier computing entity 212 may include one or more elements/components that are functionally similar to those of the central computing entity 802, user computing entity 804, UAV computing entity 808, and/or delivery vehicle computing entity 810. For example, in one embodiment, each parcel carrier computing entity 212 may include one or more processing elements/components (e.g., CPLDs, microprocessors, multi-core processors, cloud processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs, microcontrollers, and/or controllers), one or more display device/input devices (e.g., including user interfaces), volatile and non-volatile storage or memory elements/components, and/or one or more communications elements/components. For example, the user interface may be a user application, browser, user interface, interface, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably executing on and/or accessible via the parcel carrier computing entity 212 to interact with and/or cause display of information/data from the central computing entity 802, as described herein. This may also enable the parcel carrier computing entity 212 to communicate with various other computing entities, such as the UAV computing entity 808, and/or various other computing entities. As will be recognized, these architectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposes only and are not limiting to the various embodiments.

F. Exemplary Mobile Carrier Computing Entity

In one embodiment, a mobile carrier computing entity 806 may include one or more elements/components that are functionally similar to those of the central computing entity 802, user computing entity 804, UAV computing entity 808, and/or delivery vehicle computing entity 810. For example, in one embodiment, each mobile carrier computing entity 806 may include one or more processing elements/components (e.g., CPLDs, microprocessors, multi-core processors, cloud processors, coprocessing entities, ASIPs, microcontrollers, and/or controllers), one or more display device/input devices (e.g., including user interfaces), volatile and non-volatile storage or memory elements/components, and/or one or more communications elements/components. For example, the user interface may be a user application, browser, user interface, interface, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably executing on and/or accessible via the mobile carrier computing entity 806 to interact with and/or cause display of information/data from the central computing entity 802, as described herein. This may also enable the mobile carrier computing entity 806 to communicate with various other computing entities, such as user computing entities 804, and/or various other computing entities. As will be recognized, these architectures and descriptions are provided for exemplary purposes only and are not limiting to the various embodiments.

Reference will now be made to delivery methods for delivering parcels 300 via the UAVs 100. In various embodiments, the UAVs 100 may be dispatched based on logical groupings, geofencing, and the like.

G. Geographic Information/Data Database

In one embodiment, each computing entity may include or be in communication with one or more geographic information/data database (not shown) configured to access, process, provide, manipulate, store, and/or the like map information/data. For example, the geographic information/data database may include or have access to a map information/data database that includes a variety of data (e.g., map information/data) utilized for displaying a map, constructing a route/flight or navigation path, and/or other map related functions for terrestrial, nautical, and/or aerial vehicles. For example, the geographic information/data database may communicate with or comprise a geographic information/data database comprising map information/data provided by a map provider computing entity. For example, a geographic information/data database may include node data, waypoint records, street/flight/route segment records, point of interest (POI) data records, event of interest data records, serviceable point 5901 data records, and other data records. In one embodiment, the other data records include cartographic (“carto”) data records, routing data records (e.g., for routing and navigating vehicles to particular points), and/or the like. For example, the geographic information/data database may comprise map information/data including boundary, location, and attribute information/data corresponding to the various serviceable points 5901, POIs, events of interest, and/or the like.

One or more portions, components, areas, layers, features, text, and/or symbols of the POI or event data can be stored in, linked to, and/or associated with one or more of these data records. For example, one or more portions of the POI, event data, or recorded route/flight information can be matched with respective map or geographic records via position or GNSS and/or GPS) data associations (such as using known or future map matching, geo-coding, and/or reverse geo-coding techniques), for example. As will be recognized, the map information/data can be stored using a variety of formats, layers, and/or the like—including shapefiles, ArcMaps, geodatabases, coverages, imagery, rasters, computer-aided drafting (CAD) files, other storage formats, and/or the like. For instance, the geographic information/data database can appropriately store/record map information/data as a part of a digital map, e.g., as part of a feature layer, raster layer, service layer, geoprocessing layer, basemap layer, service are layer, constituent area layer, and/or the like.

In an example embodiment, the street/flight/route segment data records are segments representing roads, streets, flight paths, paths, and/or the like. The node data records are end points corresponding to the respective links or segments of the street/flight/route segment data records. The street/flight/route segment data records and the node data records represent a road networks or flight paths, used by various types of vehicles. Alternatively, the geographic information/data database can contain path segments and node data records or other data that represent pedestrian paths or areas in addition to or instead of the street/flight/route segment data records, for example. The object or data structure of the street/flight/route segments and other records may comprise a variety of information/data associated with each map element. In some examples, this information/data may include a consignee name, pick-up or delivery identifier, primary delivery point (e.g., first desired delivery point/location 5902), secondary delivery point, street name, street number, street prefix, street suffix, street type, city, state, province, territory, country, postal code, residential or commercial indicator, street classification, directionals (e.g., one way <specific to which way> or both ways), longitude and latitude, geocode, location identifier, and/or the like. For example, in one embodiment, a map element may be represented by and/or associated with a longitude and latitude, a geocode, a nearest street/flight/route segment, an address, and/or the like. Similarly, street/flight/route segments may be represented by or associated with a name, a segment identifier, a connecting node, an address or address range, a series of longitude and latitude coordinates, and/or the like that define the overall shape and location of the street/flight/route segment. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

The street/flight/route segments and nodes can be associated with attributes, such as geographic coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude), names or identifiers, street names, address ranges, speed limits, turn restrictions at intersections, and other navigation related attributes, as well as serviceable points, events of interest, and/or POIs, such as gasoline stations, hotels, restaurants, museums, stadiums, offices, waypoints, automobile dealerships, auto repair shops, buildings, stores, parks, etc. For example, serviceable points 5901, events of interest, and/or POIs can be represented in digital maps as being accessible by one or more street networks or street segments of a street network. Serviceable points 5901, events of interest, POIs, street networks, and/or the like can be represented in digital maps as navigable/traversable/travelable segments or points for traveling to and/or from serviceable points 5901, waypoints, events of interest, and/or POIs.

The geographic information/data database can include data about the serviceable points 5901, events of interest, and/or POIs and their respective locations in the serviceable points 5901, events of interest, and/or POI data records. The geographic information/data database can also include data about places, such as cities, towns, or other communities, and other geographic features, such as bodies of water, mountain ranges, etc. Such place or feature data can be part of the POI data or can be associated with POIs or POI data records (such as a data point used for displaying or representing a position of a city). In addition, the geographic information/data database can include and/or be associated with event information/data (e.g., traffic incidents, constructions, scheduled events, unscheduled events, etc.) associated with the POI data records or other records of the geographic information/data database. For example, in one embodiment, a serviceable point 5901, event of interest, and/or POI may be represented by and/or associated with a longitude and latitude, a geocode, a nearest street/flight/route segment, an address, and/or the like. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, the geographic information/data database may store digital maps. In another embodiment, the geographic information/data database may be in communication with or associated with one or more map or content provider computing entities (e.g., mapping websites/servers/providers/databases, including providers such as maps.google.com, bing.com/maps, mapquest.com, Tele Atlas®, NAVTEQ®, and/or the like) that provide map information/data (or other content) of digital maps to a variety of users and/or entities. Using the digital maps, an appropriate computing entity can provide map information/data, for example, about serviceable points 5901, events of interest, and/or POIs (e.g., their locations, attributes, and/or the like) and/or their corresponding street networks based on map information/data.

The geographic information/data database can be maintained by the map or content provider (e.g., a map developer) in association with the services platform. By way of example, the map developer can collect geographic data to generate and enhance the geographic information/data database. There can be different ways used by the map developer to collect data. These ways can include obtaining data from other sources, such as municipalities or respective geographic authorities. The geographic information/data database can be a master geographic information/data database stored in a format that facilitates updating, maintenance, and development. For example, the master geographic information/data database or data in the master geographic information/data database can be in an Oracle spatial format, .kml, SQL, PostGIS, or other spatial format, such as for development or production purposes. The Oracle spatial format or development/production database can be compiled into a delivery format, such as a geographic data files (GDF) format. The data in the production and/or delivery formats can be compiled or further compiled to form geographic information/data database products or databases, which can be used in end user computing entities or systems.

5. ADDITIONAL FEATURES, FUNCTIONALITY, AND OPERATIONS

A. Parcel Information/Data

In one embodiment, the process may begin by the central computing entity 802 generating and/or receiving parcel information/data for one or more parcels 300. For example, a user may initiate the transportation process by entering identifying information/data into the central computing entity 802. In various embodiments, the user (e.g., a user or user representative operating a user computing entity 804) may access a webpage, application, dashboard, browser, or portal of a carrier. After the user is identified (e.g., based on his or her profile), the user may initiate a parcel 300. In various embodiments, the central computing entity 802 may then provide or be in communication with a user interface (e.g., browser, dashboard, application) for the user to provide parcel information/data which includes certain details regarding the parcel 300. In various embodiments, the parcel information/data may include a name, street address, city, state, postal code, country, telephone number, and/or the like for both the consignor and the consignee. In various embodiments, the user interface may comprise a fillable form with fields including ship-from information/data and ship-to information/data. In various embodiments, some of the information/data fields may be pre-populated. For example, if the user logged into a registered account/profile, the address information/data entered during registration may be pre-populated in certain information/data fields. In some embodiments, the user may also have a digital address book associated with the account comprising address information/data for possible ship-to and/or ship-from information/data. The user may be able to select certain ship-to and/or ship-from information/data from the address book for the associated parcel 300.

In one embodiment, after the central computing entity 802 receives the ship-to and/or ship-from information/data from the user, the central computing entity 802 may perform one or more validation operations. For example, the central computing entity 802 may determine whether the primary address (and/or other addresses) in the specified country or postal code is eligible for a pick-up or delivery. The central computing entity 802 may also determine whether the primary address (and/or other secondary addresses) is valid, e.g., by passing the primary address through one or more address cleansing or standardization systems. The central computing entity 802 may perform a variety of fraud prevention measures as well, such as determining whether the users (or one of the delivery addresses) have been “blacklisted” from user pick-up and/or delivery. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In addition to ship-to and/or ship-from information/data, the parcel information/data may also include service level information/data. The service level options may be, for example, Same Day UAV, Same Day Ground, Next Day UAV, Next Day Ground, Overnight, Express, Next Day Air Early AM, Next Day Air Saver, Jetline, Sprintline, Secureline, 2nd Day Air, Priority, 2nd Day Air Early AM, 3 Day Select, Ground, Standard, First Class, Media Mail, SurePost, Freight, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 (a) may be provided parcel 300 characteristics and attributes in the parcel information/data and/or (b) may determine parcel 300 characteristics and attributes from the parcel information/data. The characteristics and attributes may include the dimensions, weight, transportation classifications, planned movements in the carrier's transportation and logistics network, planned times, and/or the like for various parcels 300. For example, the length, width, height, base, radius, and weight can be received as input information/data and/or can be determined or collected by various carrier systems. For example, sensors or cameras may be positioned to capture or determine the length, width, height, and weight (including dimensional weight) of a parcel 300 as it moves along the conveyor, moves in or out of loading bay, is carried by a lift truck, is transported through the carrier's transportation and logistics network, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, with such information/data, the central computing entity 802 can determine/identify the cube/volume for each parcel 300. The units of measurement for the equations may be established so that the size produced by the determinations is in cubic feet, or cubic inches, or any other volumetric measure. In one embodiment, after determining the cube/volume for a parcel 300 (and/or making various other determinations), the central computing entity 802 can apply a classification to the parcel 300 based at least in part on the cube/volume. The classifications may include (1) size category one parcels 300, (2) size category two parcels 300, (3) size category three parcels 300, and/or (4) size category four parcels 300. By way of example, (1) size category one parcels 300 may be defined as being within >0 and ≦2 cubic feet, (2) size category two parcels 300 may be defined as being within >2 and ≦4 cubic feet, (3) size category three parcels 300 may be defined as being within >4 and ≦6 cubic feet, and/or (4) size category four parcels 300 may be defined as being over >6 cubic feet. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances. This can facilitate determining the types of delivery options that are available for a parcel, such as UAV delivery or primary parcel 300 delivery vehicle delivery 10.

In one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 may assign or associate one or more planned times for each parcel 300—along with a planned time for specific activities for the parcel 300, each stop of a route/flight, each route/flight, and/or the like. A planned time may be the time for handling (e.g., sorting, re-wrapping, loading, unloading, inspecting, picking up, delivering, labeling, over-labeling, engaging, disengaging, and/or the like) a parcel 300. In one embodiment, each parcel 300, each activity, each stop of a route/flight, each route/flight, and/or the like may have or be associated with total planned times and/or additive planned times. The planned times may be based on historical information/data, such as average planned times.

As indicated, a planned time may comprise a total planned time for a parcel 300, an activity, a stop of a route/flight, a route/flight, and/or the like. The total planned time may comprise various additive planned times (both of which are referred to herein interchangeably as planned times). The planned times may be based on a variety of factors or parameters. For example, the planned time may be based on the cube/volume and/or weight of the parcel 300—e.g., it may take more time to move a parcel 300 that weighs 11.52 pounds from a conveyor belt than to move a parcel 300 that weighs 0.32 pounds from the same conveyor belt. Further, the planned time factors and/or parameters may also contemplate or include the type of parcel 300, such as whether the parcel 300 requires special handling. The planned time factors and/or parameters may also contemplate the service level of and/or activities to be carried out for the parcel 300. Based on the factors and parameters, for instance, the central computing entity 802 may store, have access to, and/or may forecast/estimate planned times for sorting, handling, conveying, scanning, picking up, delivering, and/or the like various parcels 300. For purposes of illustration and not of limitation, for sorting a parcel 300 from a belt conveyor to a position in a full length trailer, (1) a size category one parcel may be assigned or associated with a 1 second additive planned time, (2) a size category two parcel assigned a 1.5 second additive planned time, and so forth. Similarly, for a load operation from a warehouse to a vehicle, for instance, (1) each size category one parcel may be assigned or associated with 5 seconds of planned time, (2) each size category two parcel may be assigned or associated with 7 seconds of planned time, (3) each size category three parcel may be assigned or associated with 10 seconds of planned time, and (4) each size category four parcel may be assigned or associated with 20 seconds of planned time. Moreover, (1) each special handling category one parcel may be assigned or associated with 25 seconds of additive planned time, (2) each special handling category two parcel may be assigned or associated with 45 seconds of additive planned time, and (3) each special handling category three parcel may be assigned or associated with 33 seconds of additive planned time. The additive planned times may also be specific to carrier equipment: unload systems, load systems, sortation systems, vehicles, re-wrap systems, weighing systems, inspection systems, tools, and/or any other suitable systems. Thus, the additive planned times may vary for different types of systems (e.g., unload conveyor A, unload conveyor B) since the times for handling specific tasks associated with the different systems may vary. Additionally, some of the additive planned times may vary based on different types of vehicles since a storage area of the vehicles may vary based on the size of the vehicles. For instance, it may take longer or shorter times to walk to or access locations of the storage area and access walls, shelves, and/or the like of the storage area. In this example, the central computing entity 802 may determine/identify additive planned times associated with setup of conveyors (e.g., an unload conveyor). Further, there may be an additive planned time for loading the parcel 300 onto a primary parcel 300 vehicle 10 or conveyor, sorting the parcel 300 at a hub or other center, re-wrapping and over-labeling the parcel 300, scanning and walking the parcel 300 from a primary parcel 300 vehicle 10 to its final delivery destination, and/or the like.

The additive planned times may also be specific to vehicles (which also may be referred to herein as equipment) used in load, unload, pick-up, and/or delivery operations of parcels 300, as well as one or more bundles/containers. For instance, the central computing entity 802 may determine the number of parcels 300 that may be loaded on or unloaded from the trailer or truck within a given time period based on the sizes of trucks/trailers (e.g., 40 foot trailers, 50 foot trailers) and/or the like. As such, in response to identifying a selected primary parcel 300 vehicle 10 from which to unload and/or load parcels 300, the central computing entity 802 may determine/identify additive planned times (e.g., an unload system, a load system) based in part on the size of the trailer/truck and/or equipment being used. As will be recognized, longer length trailers/trucks may require greater additive planned times relative to shorter length trailers, for example, to walk off parcels 300 (e.g., parcels 300), and may, but need not, require longer conveyors, which may require more setup time than shorter conveyors. Additionally, in some embodiments, various size category one parcels 300 may be stored in one or more bundles/containers (e.g., bags, tote boxes, and/or the like). As such, in an instance in which the central computing entity 802 may determine that a bundle/container includes size category one parcels 300, the central computing entity 802 may assign an additive planned time to the bundle/container which may decrease or increase the handling time for size category one parcels 300 for a given load.

In one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 can determine/identify a total planned time for handling, transporting, warehousing, sorting, loading, unloading, re-wrapping, inspecting, picking up, delivering, and/or the like a parcel 300 from ingestion into the carrier's transportation and logistics network through to delivery at its final delivery destination. Additionally, the central computing entity 802 can determine planned times for different legs or activities for a given parcel 300 (e.g., a planned time for pick-up or delivery of a parcel 300). In one embodiment, the total planned time may be an estimated time irrespective of the various potential additive planned times.

Continuing with the above example, for the size category four parcel with a cube of 2.315 cubic feet weighing 15 pounds, the central computing entity 802 may assign a total planned time for picking up a parcel 300 from Corporation ABC's Distribution warehouse in Orlando, Fla., and delivering the same to 123 Springfield Road, Norcross, Ga. 30092. The total planned time may be estimated based on historical information/data for similar parcels 300 and/or be the sum of various activities to be carried out for the parcel (including picking up and delivering the parcel 300). For instance, the total planned time for a parcel may be 0.0352778 hours (127 seconds). This can represent the total allowed time for picking up, handling, conveying, inspecting, unloading, loading, re-wrapping, delivering, and/or the like the parcel 300 as it is transported through the carrier's transportation and logistics network. In this example, the driver is allowed or allotted 0.0007869 hours (2.83284 seconds) to pick up the parcel 300. As will be recognized, total planned times and additive planned times can be stored in association with various parcel information/data. Using this information/data, the central computing entity 802 can determine and assign total planned times and additive planned times for dispatch plans, routes/flights, logical groupings, stops on routes/flights, parcels 300, and/or the like.

In one embodiment, the parcel information/data may also include tracking information/data (of various “tracking events”) corresponding to the location of the parcel 300 in the transportation and logistics network. To determine and reflect a parcel's movement, a parcel 300 identifier associated with the parcel 300 may, for example, be scanned or otherwise electronically read at various points as the parcel 300 is transported through the carrier's transportation and logistics network. As indicated, these events may be referred to as tracking events. In one embodiment, the latest or most-recent tracking events (e.g., tracking information/data) can associate the parcel 300 with the particular origin entity, destination entity, bundle/container, vehicle, employee, location, facility, and/or the like.

B. User Profiles

In one embodiment, one or more users (e.g., consignors and/or consignees) can register/enroll for an account, subscription, program, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. In another embodiment, the user may be automatically enrolled/registered for the same. As previously noted, a user may be an individual, a family, a family member, a company, an organization, an entity, a department within an organization, a representative of an organization and/or person, and/or the like. In one embodiment, to register, a user (e.g., a user operating a user computing entity 804) may access a webpage, mobile application, application, dashboard, browser, or portal of an entity that provides notification/message services.

In one embodiment, as part of the enrollment/registration process, a user (e.g., a user operating a user computing entity 804) may be requested to provide information/data (e.g., including user information/data, biographic information/data, biometric information/data, geographic information/data, entity/entity information/data, payment information/data, and/or the like) by the central computing entity 802 (e.g., via the registration module). The information/data may be manually input by a user; may be automatically provided by allowing access to other accounts, such as Amazon.com, Facebook, Gmail, Twitter, PayPal, and/or the like; may be automatically collected by various computing entities (including automatic entity identification); combinations thereof; and/or other techniques and approaches. For instance, the biographic information/data may include the user's name, such as a first name, a last name, a company name, an entity name, an organization name, and/or the like. The geographic information/data may also include one or more physical addresses or locations associated with the user (e.g., street address, city, state, postal code, and/or country). The physical addresses or locations may be residential addresses, commercial addresses, geocodes, latitude and longitude points, virtual addresses, and/or the like. In one embodiment, the user information/data may include one or more electronic signatures and signature formats for electronically signing documents, releases, and/or the like.

The user (e.g., consignor or consignee) may also provide one or more physical addresses associated with the user (e.g., street address, city, state, postal code, and/or country) and/or one more geocodes to the central computing entity 802. For instance, Joseph Brown's primary residential address of 105 Main Street, Atlanta, Ga. 30309, USA, may be provided to the central computing entity 802. Further, one or more secondary residential addresses may also be provided to the central computing entity 802 for association with Mr. Brown's account and profile, such as 71 Lanier Islands, Buford, Georgia 30518, USA. As will be recognized, the residential addresses may include weekend residences, family member residences visited by the user, and/or the like. Additionally, the user (e.g., consignor or consignee) may also provide one or more business addresses associated with the user (e.g., street address, city, state, postal code, and/or country) to the central computing entity 802. For example, Mr. Brown may have a primary business address of 1201 West Peachtree Street, Atlanta, Ga. 30309, USA. One or more secondary business addresses may also be provided to the central computing entity 802 for association with Mr. Brown's account and profile, such as 101 South Tryon Street, Charlotte, N.C. 28280, USA; 950 F Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20004, USA; and 90 Park Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016, USA. As will be recognized, the business addresses may include various office locations for a single enterprise, multiple office locations for various enterprises, and/or the like. As will be recognized, the user (e.g., consignor or consignee) may provide other biographic and/or geographic information/data (e.g., geocodes) to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, in addition to the physical addresses, the user (e.g., operating a user computing entity 804) may also input, request, or be automatically generated and assigned a “virtual address.” The virtual address can be a combination of alphanumeric characters to identify a user or user profile. The virtual address can be stored by the central computing entity 802 in association with the user's profile. For example, Joseph Brown (e.g., operating a user computing entity 804) may input a request for a unique virtual address such as BigBrown8675309 or any other unique virtual address. In another embodiment, the central computing entity 802 may automatically generate and assign a unique virtual address for the user, such as assigning virtual address 1XR457RS7 to Joseph Brown. Such virtual addresses can be used by users who do not want to (a) provide their physical addresses to merchants or other third parties, (b) have their physical addresses printed on labels placed on the exterior of parcels 300, (c) use geocoded points for deliveries, (d) the like. For instance, this may enable a user (e.g., consignor0 to ship a parcel 300 using only BigBrown8675309; 1XR457RS7; or 33.7869128, −84.3875602 as the destination address (e.g., virtual address) using the appropriate carrier. Upon ingestion of the parcel 300 into the carrier's transportation and logistics network, carrier personnel can read (e.g., manually or with the aid of an entity) the virtual address on the parcel 300 (e.g., BigBrown8675309 or 1XR457RS7), look up the appropriate physical delivery address for the parcel 300 based on the consignee's profile (e.g., search for the user profile associated with the virtual address), and route/flight the parcel 300 accordingly (including the use of automatic service schedules). In certain embodiments, the parcel 300 may be routed only using the virtual address. That is, each parcel 300 is handled by carrier personnel, a mobile station 105 (in communication with the central computing entity 802) operated by the carrier personnel can cause display of the appropriate handling or routing instructions while masking the actual physical delivery address. In other embodiments, however, once the parcel 300 with the virtual address is inducted into the carrier's transportation and logistics network, carrier personnel may place a label on the parcel 300 that indicates the physical delivery address (e.g., based on an address associated with the profile and/or automatic service schedule).

In addition to the virtual address, the central computing entity 802 may also generate and store an internal user identifier in association with the user profile, such as a global unique identifier (GUID) or a universally unique identifier (UUID). For instance, in one embodiment, the user identifier may be a 128-bit value displayable as hexadecimal digits with groups separated by hyphens. By way of example, the user identifier for Joseph Brown may be 21EC2020-3AEA-4069-A2DD-08002B30309D. In one embodiment, a user identifier may be used to uniquely identify a user profile. In another embodiment, a user identifier may be used to uniquely identify a given address (e.g., physical address or virtual address) associated with a user profile. In such an embodiment, if a user profile is associated with four addresses, the central computing entity 802 may generate and store four user identifiers in association with the user profile (or use one user identifier for all the addresses for the user). The user identifier may also be stored in association with parcel information/data for a parcel 300 to associate the parcel 300 (and its parcel information/data) with the (a) correct user (e.g., user profile) and/or (b) correct address for a user. For instance, the parcel information/data for all parcels 300 corresponding to Joseph Brown's user profile may be appended with the user identifier created for Joseph Brown. In various embodiments, using this approach allows parcels 300 (and their parcel information/data) to be linked to appropriate user profiles. Thus, when Joseph Brown accesses his account, he can view all of his parcels 300 (e.g., those parcels 300 with parcel information/data appended with his user identifier (or other identifier)). Similarly, any actions for a parcel 300 or user can be passed to the parcel information/data for the parcel 300 (including carrying out automatic service schedules). In other words, the user identifier appended to the parcel information/data resolves to the corresponding user profile/account and/or address. The parcel information/data may have multiple user identifiers appended—one or more user identifiers for the consignor and one or more user identifiers for the consignee.

In one embodiment, the user information/data may include one or more communication formats for communicating with the user as part of his or her notification/message preferences. The communication formats may include text notifications/messages (e.g., SMS, MMS), email notifications/messages, voice notifications/messages, video notifications/messages (e.g., YouTube, the Vine), picture notifications/messages (e.g., Instagram), social media notifications/messages (e.g., private social media created internally for entities, business social media (e.g., Yammer, SocialCast), or public social media (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), and/or a variety of other notifications/messages in various communication formats. In addition to the one or more communication formats, the user (e.g., operating a user computing entity 804) can provide the corresponding electronic destination addresses to be used in providing information/data associated with the notification/message services to the user (e.g., email addresses, online handles, phone numbers, usernames, etc.). For instance, for text notifications/messages, the user may provide one or more cellular phone numbers. For email notifications/messages, the user may provide one or more email addresses (to receive emails or notifications through specific accounts). And for voice notifications/messages, the user may provide one or more cellular or landline phone numbers or other electronic destination addresses to which audio files can be delivered. Additionally, in one embodiment, validation operations can be performed with respect to each input electronic destination address—to ensure accuracy. As will be recognized, a variety of other types of electronic destination addresses can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, entity/entity information/data, user information/data, physical address or location information/data, and/or the like may be received, provided, obtained, detected, assigned, collected, requested, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably as part of the registration/enrollment process. As will be recognized, entity/entity information/data may be collected for any number of entities or entities for association with a user's account, subscription, program, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably. The entity/entity information/data may include one or more entity or entity identifiers—phone numbers, Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) numbers, Media Access Control (MAC) addresses, International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) numbers, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, Mobile Equipment Identifiers (MEIDs), unit identifiers (e.g., GPS unit identifiers, UDiDs, mobile identification numbers (MINs), IMSI_S (Short IMSIs), email addresses, usernames, GUIDs, Integrated Circuit Card Identifiers (ICCIDs), electronic serial numbers (ESN), International Mobile Equipment Identities (IMEIs), Wi-Fi IDs, RFID tags, and/or the like. The entity/entity information/data may include an entity's vendor, model, specification authority, version, components, software specification and/or version, person associated with the entity, and/or the like. The entity/entity information/data may be used to track, monitor, connect with, communicate with, and/or the like the corresponding entities or entities.

In one embodiment, with the appropriate information/data, the central computing entity 802 may create a user profile for the user via the enrollment/registration process. Accordingly, the central computing entity 802 may create, store, and/or have access to various user profiles and/or information/data associated with the user profiles. In addition to at least the information/data described above, a user profile may include one or more corresponding usernames, passwords, images, tokens, challenge phrases, reminders, and/or the like (referred to herein as credentials) for accessing accounts, applications, services, entities, and/or the like. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, a user profile identifier may be used to uniquely identify a user profile. In another embodiment, a user profile identifier may be used to uniquely identify a given address associated with a user profile. In such an embodiment, if a user profile is associated with four addresses, the central computing entity 802 may create and store four user profile identifiers in association with the user profile. The user profile identifier may also be stored in association with parcel information/data for a parcel 300 to associate the parcel 300 (and its parcel information/data) with the (a) correct user (e.g., user profile) and/or (b) correct address for a user. Moreover, the central computing entity 802 can associate parcel information/data for a parcel 300 with the corresponding user profile. This may include appending the parcel information/data with the appropriate user profile identifier (or other identifier corresponding to the user profile). For instance, the parcel information/data for all parcels 300 corresponding to Smith Co. Automotive's user profile may be appended with the user profile identifier (or other identifier) created for Smith Co. Automotive. In various embodiments, using this approach allows parcels 300 (and their parcel information/data) to be linked to appropriate user profiles. Thus, when a user at Smith Co. Automotive accesses its account, he or she can view all of his parcels 300 (e.g., those parcels 300 with parcel information/data appended with his user profile identifier (or other identifier)). Similarly, any actions selected by the user for a parcel 300 can be passed to the parcel information/data for the parcel 300.

C. Pick-Up Points and Delivery Points

In one embodiment, pick-up and/or delivery points may be locations at which parcels can be picked up from and/or delivered to at a given serviceable point 5901. Such locations can be stored in user profiles and/or as parcel information/data. Referring to FIG. 58, a delivery point may identify a location on a driveway, a location on a front porch, a location inside of a garage, a location in yard, a location on top of a building, and/or the like associated with a serviceable point 5901. In one embodiment, the UAV 100 can use a primary delivery point (e.g., first desired delivery point/location 5902) for all deliveries as a default. Similarly, the UAV 100 can use one or more secondary delivery points (e.g., second desired delivery points/locations 5904) in the event the primary delivery point (e.g., first desired delivery point/location 5902) is obstructed, is otherwise inaccessible, is not preferred for a particular delivery or type of delivery, and/or the like.

In addition to delivery points, a UAV landing point may be, for example, a location at which a UAV 100 can land for retrieval of parcels by consignees. In one embodiment, a UAV landing point may be used, for example, if a single address is associated with multiple primary/secondary delivery points 5902, 5904 accessed by a single landing location (e.g., a mall with deliveries to multiple stores or an apartment complex with deliveries to multiple apartments). Thus, in one example, a UAV landing point may be where a UAV 100 can land for multiple consignees to retrieve parcels (e.g., landing at a mall or apartment complex). In another embodiment, a landing point can be used when an automated release of a parcel is not available, for example, because of its size or configuration.

In one embodiment, different types of information/data sets can be used to identify the various types of points at a serviceable point 5901. For example, in one embodiment, information/data associated with a serviceable point 5901 may include primary/secondary delivery point 5902, 5904 information/data and or landing point information/data. As will be recognized, such information/data associated with the different points can be collected or determined using a variety of techniques and methods. For example, in one embodiment, each time a UAV 100 visits a primary/secondary delivery point 5902, 5904 associated with a serviceable point 5901, a primary/secondary delivery point geo coordinate is collected or determined for the primary/secondary delivery point. The term primary/secondary delivery point geo coordinate may refer to, for example, information/data may include longitude and latitude coordinates, geocodes, altitude, course, speed, distance, UTC, date information, and/or the like. This information/data may be collected, for example, via the UAV computing entity 808 (with or without the aid of the driver of the UAV 100). Similar information/data can be collected from physical visits by carrier personnel, for instance, to serviceable points 5901.

Operatively, in one embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 provides the functionality to maintain and process location information/data (such as latitude and longitude information/data) for locations to which parcels are delivered or from which parcels picked up, for example. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 is adapted to be used to gather geo coordinate samples (e.g., geocode, latitude and longitude points, GPS readings, and/or the like) at each landing, delivery, or pick-up at a serviceable point 5901 over a period of time. More specifically, the UAV computing entity 808 can be configured to collect geo coordinate samples continuously or upon determining the occurrence of one or more configurable triggering events. Such configurable triggering events may include, but are not limited to: landing events, obstacle detection events, parcel release events, failure events, scan or other read events, communication or confirmation events, notification events, delivery events, and/or the like. Thus, for each delivery point and landing point at a serviceable point 5901, one or more geo coordinate samples (e.g., GPS readings) may be taken by the UAV computing entity 808 in response to various triggering events.

As indicated, in one embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 is configured to continuously and/or periodically store geo coordinate samples, regardless of whether a triggering event has occurred. This may be beneficial since geo coordinates may not always be available at any given time since, for example, a GPS signal could be temporarily blocked by a nearby obstruction. Thus, for instance, if a triggering event occurs at a time when a geo coordinate is not immediately obtainable, the last known geo coordinate (or in some embodiments the next geo coordinate) can be used. In such embodiments, the UAV computing entity 808 may store information/data about the time of the geo coordinate sample and the time of the associated triggering event so that the geographic information/data database provider may use the information/data in determining the accuracy of the geo coordinate samples.

The geo coordinate samples can be provided to the geographic information/data database, which, after an appropriate number of geo coordinate samples associated with a primary/secondary delivery point, processes the sample geo coordinates and creates or updates the primary/secondary delivery point geo coordinate for the serviceable point 5901. For example, the geographic information/data database may be configured to require two, three, and/or more consistent sample geo coordinates associated with a primary/secondary delivery point 5902, 5904 before creating or updating a primary/secondary delivery point geo coordinate for the serviceable point 5901.

In various embodiments, the information/data sets for the points need to be stored and accessed for route/path determination and optimization. In various embodiments, the primary/secondary delivery point 5902, 5904 information/data may be stored in a variety of ways—including as part of a user profile, parcel information/data, and/or a serviceable point 5901 profile. For example, a serviceable point 5901 object (e.g., data structure) may be used to store (a) the address of the serviceable point 5901, (b) the latitude and longitude of a primary/secondary delivery point 5902, 5904 associated with the serviceable point 5901 (e.g., primary/secondary delivery point geo coordinate), (c) the latitude and longitude type (e.g., latitude and longitude of a primary/secondary delivery point 5902, 5904 or latitude and longitude of a UAV landing point) of the primary/secondary delivery point 5902, 5904 associated with the serviceable point 5901, (d) the latitude and longitude of a street network connection point 400 associated with the serviceable point 5901 (e.g., street network connection point geo coordinate), (e) obstacles at the serviceable point 5901, (f) delivery history at the serviceable point 5901, and/or the like.

D. Grouping-Based Load and Takeoff Operations

In one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 can create/generate dispatch plans for carrying out the pick-ups and/or deliveries for the UAV computing entity 808 to pick-up points and/or delivery points at one or more serviceable points 5901. Dispatch plans are well known and are used daily by various carriers. In general, dispatch plans are groups of routes/flights planned to be dispatched together along with their associated delivery and pick-up assignments. Dispatch plans may also indicate how each primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 should be loaded and/or how each route/flight should be carried out. FIGS. 51, 52, and 53 include various territories, routes/flights, serviceable points 5901 associated with a territory (e.g., geographic area) or route/flight, and assigned pick-ups and deliveries for serviceable points 5901 for the same. A route/flight is generally a one or more address ranges for serviceable points 5901 with associated service levels assigned to a single service provider (e.g., carrier delivery personnel). Each route/flight usually includes a trace, which is a predefined path for carrying out one or more deliveries. A delivery order listing then is a listing of address ranges, addresses, and/or parcels 300 for serviceable points 5901 that follows the trace for the route/flight to visit perform the assigned pick-ups and/or deliveries for serviceable points 5901. Through an appropriate interface, dispatch plans can be compared against alternative dispatch plans to load balance and otherwise adjust the various dispatch plans for a given geographic area, service center, route/flight, and/or the like. U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,024 entitled Systems and Methods for Dynamically Updating a Dispatch Plan, filed Apr. 18, 2005 provides a general description of dispatch plans and how these plans may be generated and updated. This may include dynamically updating dispatch plans to add, remove, or update pick-ups and/or deliveries for serviceable points 5901. U.S. Pat. No. 7,624,024 is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

So that the parcels can be readily accessed for loading to a UAV 100 based on the delivery order listing, each parcel can be assigned a load/storage position in the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10. In one embodiment, each load/storage position may be associated with a unique load/storage position. For instance, each parcel may be assigned a sequence number between 0001-9999 (a number within the sequence range) based upon the load/storage position. In another example, each parcel may be assigned a grid position A1-Z99. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, the load/storage position can be stored in association with the corresponding parcel information/data. The load/storage position can be provided via an interface, printed on a pre-load label to assist in loading the vehicle, and/or implemented through a variety of other techniques and approaches. In one embodiment, the load/storage position (e.g., 0001-0050 or A1-A30) can be a logical grouping. A logical grouping may comprise a plurality of parcels that are to be delivered within a planned time (e.g., an estimated time period/frame of one another, such as 15 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, 4 hours, day, and/or the like). For instance, logical groupings may be based on routes/flights, route/flight portions, neighborhood names, zip codes, zip code+4, geographic areas, longitude and latitude ranges, geocodes, geographic descriptors, zones of confidence, geofences, and/or the like. As will be recognized, in one embodiment, each route/flight may comprise one or more logical groupings and/or logical grouping identifiers. Each logical grouping may correspond to a specific planned time (e.g., estimated pick-up/delivery time or window). For instance, a logical grouping may be associated with a planned time for delivering all of the parcels in the logical grouping: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, and/or the like. The estimated pick-up/delivery window may indicate the estimated amount of time to deliver all parcels of the logical grouping. For instance, if the planned time for the logical grouping is 1 hour, this may indicate that the parcels 300 for the logical grouping will be delivered within the next hour from that point. That is, the estimated pick-up/delivery window or time can be used to indicate when or within what timeframe the corresponding parcels will be delivered. If the current time is 1:00 pm EST and the planned time is 1 hour, the estimated pick-up/delivery window for all parcels will be 1:00 pm EST to 2:00 pm EST. The logical groupings can also be stored in association with the parcel information/data. In another embodiment, a specific information/data field or portion of an information/data field in the parcel information/data may already be designated as a logical grouping identifier. For example, the logical grouping identifier may be a portion of the shipment identifier, all or a portion of a zip code field, a load/storage position, a route/flight, a route/flight portion, all or a portion of a sequence number, a geographic descriptor, and/or the like. By using such logical groupings, grouped takeoffs for UAVs 100 can be coordinated within specific planned time and/or pick-up/delivery windows.

In one embodiment, a variety of computing entities (e.g., delivery vehicle computing entity 810, central computing entity 802, mobile carrier computing entity 806, and/or the like) can determine or receive input that a parcel is about to be delivered, is being delivered, or has just been delivered (Block 4700 of FIG. 50). For instance, in one embodiment, the mobile carrier computing entity 806 is configured to receive input (e.g., via the user interface) that indicates a variety of service dynamics, such as delivery-related or vehicle-related activities or occurrences. For example, in various embodiments, the user interface is configured to permit a driver to indicate the following service dynamics: (a) that a delivery stop has commenced (e.g., by pressing a button indicating that the driver has arrived at a delivery point/location and commenced the delivery process, scanning or interrogating a parcel), (b) that a delivery stop has ended (e.g., by pressing a button indicating that the driver has completed the delivery and is now leaving the delivery location), (c) that a particular bill of lading and its associated freight or packages have been picked up or delivered (e.g., by entering or scanning a tracking number or code, or otherwise identifying one or more bills of lading associated with freight or packages that have been picked up or delivered), (d) the number of units picked up or delivered at a stop (e.g., by manually entering a numerical value), (e) the weight of packages or freight picked up or delivered at a stop (e.g., by manually entering a numerical value), (f) that a lunch or break period has commenced or ended (e.g., by pressing a button indicating that the start or stop of a break or lunch), (g) that a particular delay encountered by a driver has commenced or ended (e.g., by entering a code or otherwise identifying a type of delay that a driver has encountered—such as waiting for freight, caught in traffic, fueling a vehicle, waiting at train tracks, waiting at security, waiting for bill of lading—and pressing a button indicating that the identified delay has started or stopped), (h) that the driver has begun a work day and is on the clock (e.g., at a shipping hub and before starting the delivery vehicle computing entity 810), (i) that the driver has ended a work day and is off the clock, (j) that the driver and vehicle have entered a particular area (e.g., the property of a shipping hub, a designated delivery area or other work area), and/or (k) that the driver and vehicle have exited a particular area (e.g., the property of a shipping hub, a designated delivery area or other work area).

In one embodiment, in response to receiving input indicating that a delivery is about to occur or has occurred, the mobile carrier computing entity 806 may capture service information/data and/or parcel information/data in a computer readable format (Block 4700 of FIG. 50). After receiving input capturing the service information/data and/or parcel information/data, an appropriate computing entity can determine whether the parcel information/data is part of the current logical grouping (4702 of FIG. 50). For the first delivery for the day (or other time period, such as shifts or after breaks), the appropriate computing entity will determine that the parcel is not part of the current logical grouping as it is the first logical grouping being delivered for the day or time period/frame (e.g., the current logical grouping value is null until it is set by the first delivery of the day or time period). Once the current logical grouping value has been set for the day (or time period), the appropriate computing entity can store an indicator of the current logical grouping based on the last parcel delivered. Correspondingly, each time the mobile carrier computing entity 806 (or other appropriate computing entity) records a stop as being completed (e.g., a parcel as being delivered), the mobile carrier computing entity 806 can store the logical grouping of that parcel (e.g., the most recently delivered parcel) as the current logical grouping. For subsequent parcels, the appropriate computing entity (e.g., delivery vehicle computing entity 810, central computing entity 802, mobile carrier computing entity 806, and/or the like) can compare the logical grouping for the parcel that is about to be or has been delivered with the logical grouping that is indicated as being the current logical grouping. To do so, an appropriate computing entity identifies the current logical grouping and the logical grouping for the parcel that is about to be or has been delivered.

Responsive to determining that a parcel is part of the current logical grouping, the appropriate computing entity does not take any action. Rather, the appropriate computing entity (e.g., delivery vehicle computing entity 810, central computing entity 802, mobile carrier computing entity 806, and/or the like) waits for input indicating that a different parcel is about to be or has been delivered (e.g., the process returns to Block 4700 of FIG. 50).

Responsive to determining that a parcel is not part of the current logical grouping, in one embodiment, the mobile carrier computing entity 806 can present a customized, interactive interface to the carrier personnel (Blocks 4704, 4706, and 4708 of FIG. 50). In one embodiment, the customized, interactive interface may provide the carrier personnel with the ability to confirm whether the parcel is part of a new logical grouping. Responsive to input received via the customized, interactive interface indicating that the parcel is not part of a new logical grouping, an appropriate computing entity (e.g., delivery vehicle computing entity 810, central computing entity 802, mobile carrier computing entity 806, and/or the like) can automatically initiate a timer for a configurable time period/frame (e.g., 30 seconds, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and/or the like) to bypass the operations in Blocks 4700-4708 of FIG. 50. The automated timer provides for a mechanism to limit the burden on carrier personnel with repeated requests (e.g., for each parcel being delivered) to confirm logical groupings in a short period of time (e.g., for every parcel delivered within a short period of time). Once the time period/frame of has elapsed (Block 4712 of FIG. 50), the process can return to Block 4700 of FIG. 50. Use of the automated timer also reduces processing by not checking each parcel that is for pick-up or delivery, but allows the processing element to be used for other processing and/or tasks.

Responsive to input received via the customized, interactive interface indicating that the parcel is part of a new logical grouping, an appropriate computing entity (e.g., delivery vehicle computing entity 810, central computing entity 802, mobile carrier computing entity 806, and/or the like) can automatically initiate the loading of the parcels 300 for the new logical grouping for takeoff and delivery via one or more UAVs 100 (Block 4708 of FIG. 50).

In an embodiment in which a timer is utilized, if a parcel is delivered during the time period/frame of the timer, the next delivery outside of the time period/frame from the logical grouping will be detected at Block 4700 since the current logical grouping indicator will not have been updated since the corresponding operations have been bypassed. Thus, if parcels are delivered during the time period/frame of the timer, other parcels in the logical grouping will be detected to generate and transmit corresponding notifications/messages.

E. Geofence-Based Load and Takeoff Operations

In one embodiment, an appropriate computing entity can identify or define one or more geofences, such as defining a geofence around a geographic area. The geofences may be defined to surround a defined geographic area, such as surrounding countries, regions, states, counties, cities, towns, interstates, roads, streets, avenues, toll roads, zip codes, area codes, ways, exit and entrance ramps, delivery routes, route/flight patterns, neighborhoods, shopping centers, off-road areas (e.g., areas without paved roads), private land areas, parking lots (e.g., at malls or other establishments), driveways, and/or the like. The geofences may be defined, for example, by the latitude and longitude coordinates associated with various points along the perimeter of the geographic area. Alternatively, geofences may be defined based on latitude and longitude coordinates of the center, as well as the radius, of the geographic area. Geofences may be as large as an entire country, region, state, county, city, or town (or larger). The geographic areas, and therefore the geofences, may be any shape including, but not limited to, a circle, square, rectangle, an irregular shape, and/or the like. Moreover, the geofenced areas need not be the same shape or size. Accordingly, any combination of shapes and sizes may be used in accordance with embodiments of the present invention. Similarly, a geofence may overlap or reside wholly within another geofence.

In one embodiment, once at least one geofence has been defined, the coordinates (or similar methods for defining the geofenced areas) and corresponding geofence identifier may be stored in a map/geographic information/data database accessible by a variety of computing entities. Thus, as the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 enters and exits the one or more defined geofences, an appropriate computing entity can monitor the location of the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 and trigger/initiate certain events based on the location.

So that the parcels can be readily accessed for loading to a UAV 100 based on geofences, each parcel 300 and/or parcel carrier 200 can be assigned a geofence identifier (indicating the geofence in which it should be delivered) and stored in the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 proximate to other parcels associated with the same geofence identifier. In one embodiment, each geofence may be associated with a planned time for delivering all of the parcels in the geofence: 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, and/or the like. The estimated pick-up/delivery window may indicate the estimated amount of time to deliver all parcels in the geofence. For instance, if the planned time for the geofence is 1 hour, this may indicate that the parcels associated with the geofence will be delivered within the next hour once the geofence is entered. That is, the estimated pick-up/delivery window or time can be used to indicate when or within what timeframe the corresponding parcels will be delivered. If the current time is 1:00 pm EST and the planned time is 1 hour, the estimated pick-up/delivery window for all parcels will be 1:00 pm EST to 2:00 pm EST. The geofence identifier can also be stored in association with the parcel information/data. In another embodiment, a specific information/data field or portion of an information/data field in the parcel information/data may already be designated as a geofence identifier. For example, the geofence identifier may be a portion of the shipment identifier, all or a portion of a zip code field, a load/storage position, a route/flight, a route/flight portion, all or a portion of a sequence number, a geographic descriptor, and/or the like. By using such geofences, grouped loads and takeoffs for UAVs 100 can be coordinated within specific planned time and/or pick-up/delivery windows.

In one embodiment, with one or more geofenced areas (e.g., geofences) defined, the location of the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 can be monitored. Generally, the location of the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 can be monitored by any of a variety of computing entities, including the delivery vehicle computing entity 810, UAV computing entity 808, the mobile carrier computing entity 806, the central computing entity 802, and/or the like. For example, as noted above, a location at a particular time may be determined with the aid of location determining elements/components. By using the primary parcel delivery vehicle's 10 and/or UAV's 100 location, an appropriate computing entity can determine, for example, when the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 enters a defined geofence.

In one embodiment, in response to (e.g., after) a determination that a primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 has entered a defined geofenced area, an appropriate computing entity can initiate the pick-up/delivery of the parcels associated with the geofence identifier for the entered geofence. That is, a corresponding computing entity can identify all parcels in the dispatch plan associated with the geofenced identifier for loading and taking off via a UAV 100. In particular, once the vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 has entered a defined geofenced area, UAVs 100 may be dispatched from the vehicle 10 to deliver parcels 300 to delivery/pick-up points/locations positioned within the geofenced area.

In one embodiment, after the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 has entered the geofenced area, the location of the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 can continue to be monitored by any of a variety of computing entities. By using the primary parcel delivery vehicle's 10 and/or UAV's 100 location, a computing entity can determine, for example, when the primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 exits the defined geofenced area. As described, this may include using various location determining elements/components. In another embodiment, in response to (e.g., after) a determination that a primary parcel delivery vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 has exited the defined geofenced area, an appropriate computing entity can stop the delivery of parcels to the exited geofence (e.g., based on the geofence identifier) and/or provide a notification/message to the mobile carrier computing entity 806 and/or central computing entity 802 regarding the status of each parcel to be delivered using a UAV 100 within the geofence.

F. Route/Flight-Based Load and Takeoff Operations

In embodiments, in conjunction with or independently of the logical group-based and geofence-based load and takeoff methods described above, the UAVs 100 may be loaded to and may take off from the vehicle 10 according to a dispatch plan based on a route/flight (e.g., trace) or predetermined/configurable path for carrying out one or more deliveries/pick-ups. As described above, each route/flight usually includes a trace, which is a predefined path for carrying out one or more pick-ups and/or deliveries. A delivery order listing is a listing of address ranges, addresses, and/or parcels 300 for serviceable points 5901 that follows the trace to perform the assigned pick-ups and/or deliveries for serviceable points 5901. Through an appropriate interface, dispatch plans can be compared against alternative dispatch plans to load balance and otherwise adjust the various dispatch plans for a given geographic area, service center, route/flight, and/or the like. In such embodiments, takeoffs can be triggered based on time, location, pick-ups and/or deliveries completed, position in the trace, and/or the like.

Furthermore, in such embodiments, messages/notifications can be provided to user computing entities 804 based on the progress of a vehicle 10 and/or UAV 100 through a predetermined/configurable route/flight. The message/notification criteria may be based on the estimated time of arrival of carrier at the serviceable point 5901. For example, the consignor/consignee may seek to receive a message when the vehicle 10 and/or the UAV 100 is approximately 1 hour away, 30 minutes away, 15 minutes away and/or 5 minutes away. In this case, central computing entity (and/or the user computing entity 804) may identify the number of stops needing to be made before arriving at the specific consignor/consignee's serviceable point 5901 and applying a predetermined/configurable stop time estimate to calculate an estimated time of arrival at the consignor/consignee's serviceable point 5901 (e.g., number of stops*standard stop duration). In some embodiments, the estimate may also include estimated travel time between the remaining stops (e.g., ETA calculated by navigations software, distance of anticipated route*average speed, etc.). In further embodiments, the central computing entity 802 may use historical information/data regarding service times and/or travel times between stops to arrive at an estimated arrival time at the user's serviceable point. Depending on the user's preferences in the corresponding user profile, this process may be repeated with messages being sent when the vehicle 10 or UAV 100 is 30, 15, and/or 5 minutes away. The central computing entity 802 (and/or the user computing entity 804) may also send the consignor/consignee an arrival message when the vehicle 10 and/or the UAV 100 is approaching and/or arrives at the consignor/consignee's serviceable point 5901. The individual messages may be sent via the same protocol or under different protocols according to the preferences of the user and/or carrier (e.g., countdown messages by text). As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

G. Pre-Flight Condition Operations

Referring to FIG. 54, one embodiment of operations for determining if a parcel 300 is suitable for delivery via UAV 100 is schematically depicted. For example, prior to attaching a parcel carrier 200 to a parcel 300 at the intermediate location 601 (FIG. 32), the central computing entity 802, or another suitable computing entity, may determine whether conditions are suitable for delivering the parcels 300 via UAV 100. In a first step S402, the central computing entity 802 detects a wind speed associated with a predetermined/configurable area. In embodiments, the predetermined/configurable area includes a geographic area in which parcels 300 may be delivered and/or picked up via UAV 100, and may include one or more geofenced areas. The central computing entity 802 may detect the wind speed conditions, such as by accessing weather forecasts from the internet via the network 800 (e.g., wind speeds at the current time and/or projected time of delivery). Alternatively, vehicles 10 may be equipped with one or more wind speed detection devices, such as an anemometer that is communicatively coupled to an associated delivery vehicle computing entity 810, and the central computing entity 802 may receive detected wind speed conditions for the predetermined/configurable area from the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 of a vehicle 10.

In a second step S404, the central computing entity 802 determines if the wind speed is below a predetermined/configurable wind speed threshold. If the detected wind speed conditions are not below the predetermined/configurable wind speed threshold, then the central computing entity 802 proceeds to step S412 and provides instructions to prepare the parcels 300 within the intermediate location 601 for conventional delivery (e.g., without the use of a UAV 100). In embodiments, the predetermined/configurable wind speed threshold may be 30 miles per hour (mph). In other embodiments, the predetermined/configurable wind speed threshold may be 25 mph. In still other embodiments, the predetermined/configurable wind speed threshold may be 15 mph.

If at step S404, the detected wind speed is below the predetermined/configurable wind speed threshold, then the central computing entity 802 proceeds to step S406, and detects precipitation conditions for the predetermined/configurable area. In embodiments, the central computing entity 802 may detect precipitation conditions within the predetermined/configurable area. For example, the central computing entity 802 may detect current and forecasted precipitation conditions within the predetermined/configurable area, such as by accessing weather forecasts from the internet via the network 800.

The central computing entity 802 then proceeds to step S408, and determines if the precipitation conditions within the predetermined/configurable area are below a predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold. If the detected precipitation conditions are not below the predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold, then the central computing entity 802 proceeds to step S412 and provides instructions to prepare the parcels 300 within the intermediate location 610 for conventional delivery. If the detected precipitation conditions are below the predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold, then the central computing entity 802 proceeds to step S410 and provides instructions to prepare the parcels 300 within the intermediate location for delivery via UAV 100. The predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold may be based on a percent chance of precipitation within the predetermined/configurable area (e.g., a percent chance of precipitation within the predetermined/configurable area on a specific day), or the predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold may include a detected precipitation event (e.g., rain, sleet, snow, etc.) within a predetermined/configurable distance of the predetermined/configurable area. For example, the predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold may be a forecast indicating a 10% chance of precipitation within the predetermined/configurable area. In other embodiments, the predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold may be a forecast indicating a 20% chance of precipitation within the predetermined/configurable area. In other embodiments, the predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold may include an indication of a precipitation event detected within 20 miles of the predetermined/configurable area. In still other embodiments, the predetermined/configurable precipitation threshold may include an indication of a precipitation event detected within 40 miles of the predetermined/configurable area.

Accordingly, the central computing entity 802 may provide instructions to prepare parcels 300 within the intermediate location 601 for conventional delivery or for delivery via UAV 100 based on the above-described and/or various other weather/environmental conditions. As may be appreciated, it may be difficult to operate UAVs 100 in adverse weather/environmental conditions, such as in high winds, in precipitation, and/or in low or high temperatures. Operation of the UAVs 100 in such conditions may increase the chances for unsuccessful delivery of the parcel 300, and may result in damage to the parcel 300 and/or the UAV 100, which may generally reduce user satisfaction and may increase operating costs. Accordingly, by providing an indication that the parcels 300 should be prepared for conventional delivery based on the detection of adverse weather/environmental conditions, the central computing entity 802 may assist in reducing operating costs and in ensuring successful delivery of the parcels 300.

H. Parcel Engagement Operations

Referring collectively to FIGS. 32 and 55, the perspective view of the intermediate location 601 and one embodiment of operations for associating a parcel 300 with a parcel carrier 200 are schematically depicted, respectively. In a first step S502, a parcel 300 is scanned/read/received by the parcel identification unit 632, and the parcel identification unit 632 may read the parcel identifier of the parcel 300. In a second step S504, the parcel identification unit 632 may communicate the parcel identifier to the central computing entity 802. In a third step S506, the parcel carrier identification unit 613 scans a parcel carrier 200 positioned on the robot 612 as the robot 612 installs the parcel carrier 200 to the parcel carrier clamps 622. In a fourth step S508, the parcel carrier identification unit 613 communicates the scanned/read/received parcel carrier 200 to the central computing entity 802. In a fifth step S508, the central computing entity 802 associates the scanned/read/received parcel identifier with the scanned/read/received parcel carrier identifier. As may be appreciated, the parcel carrier 200 and the associated parcel 300 may be connected to one another at the engagement clamping mechanism 634, which is spaced apart from the parcel identification unit 632 and the parcel carrier identification unit 613 of the robot 612. Accordingly, when associating the parcel carrier identifier with the parcel identifier, the central computing entity 802 may consider and accommodate the parcel carriers 200 positioned between the parcel carrier identification unit 613 and the engagement clamping mechanism 632, as well as the parcels 300 positioned between the parcel identification unit 632 and the engagement clamping mechanism 634.

By associating the parcels 300 with the parcel carriers 200 that are attached to the parcels 300, the central computing entity 802 may track and monitor the position and progress of parcels 300 and associated parcel carriers 200 throughout a delivery process.

Reference will now be made to methods for supplying parcel carriers 200 within the vehicle 10 to the UAV 100, and operations for the delivery and pick-up of parcels 300 via UAV 100.

I. Remote User Authorization and Takeoff Operations

Referring to FIG. 56, one embodiment of operations for loading a parcel carrier 200 to a UAV 100 is schematically depicted. As described above, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 is communicatively coupled to the central computing entity 802, and may be communicatively coupled to the robot processor 522 and the conveyor controller 460 of the vehicle 10. In a first step S601, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 determines if the supply position sensor 450 a indicates if a UAV 100 is positioned within the supply region 408. If the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 does not receive a signal from the supply position sensor 450 a indicating the UAV 100 is positioned within the supply region 408, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 remains at step S602. If the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 receives a signal from the supply position sensor 450 a indicating that a UAV 100 is positioned within the supply region 408, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 proceeds to step S604 and commands the robot 500 to retrieve a parcel carrier 200 from the rack 30 within the vehicle 10.

In an optional second step S602, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 determines and a parcel carrier 200 for dispatch. As described above, parcel carriers 200 (and the associated parcels 300) may be dispatched from the vehicle 10 based on logical groupings and/or based on the position of the vehicle 10, such as when the vehicle 10 is positioned within a geofenced area. Upon selecting a parcel carrier 200 for dispatch, the delivery vehicle computing entity 801 proceeds to step S603. At step S603, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 determines if a confirmation has been received from the user computing entity 804, indicating that the consignor/consignee would like the delivery/pick-up to be performed via UAV 100. For example, in some embodiments, prior to dispatching a parcel carrier 200 (and associated parcel 300 when performing a delivery) from the vehicle 10, the delivery vehicle computing entity 804 may send a notification to the user computing entity 804. The notification may invite the consignor/consignee to provide an input via the user computing entity 804 confirming that the consignor/consignee would like a delivery/pick-up to be performed via UAV. If the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 does not receive a confirmation from the user computing entity 808, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may return to step S602 and determine another parcel carrier 200 for dispatch. In this way, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may receive confirmation from a consignor/consignee that the consignor/consignee would like to have a delivery/pick-up performed via UAV 100 prior to dispatch of the UAV 100 from the vehicle 10. If the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 receives a confirmation from the user computing entity 808, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 proceeds to step S604 and commands the robot to retrieve the parcel carrier 200 from the rack 30.

The delivery vehicle computing entity 810 then proceeds to step S606, and commands the robot 500 to install the parcel carrier 200 to the UAV chassis 110. Upon installing the parcel carrier 200 to the UAV chassis 110, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may additionally provide information/data to the UAV computing entity 804 indicating the destination of the parcel carrier 200 (e.g., a coordinate location of the delivery/pick-up point/location to which the parcel carrier 200 is to be transported).

Once the parcel carrier 200 is installed to the UAV chassis 110, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 proceeds to step S608, and moves the UAV to the takeoff end 402. Once moved to the takeoff end 402, the propulsion members 102 of the UAV 100 may be engaged, and the UAV 100 may depart from the vehicle 10.

The operations described above with respect to FIG. 56 may be performed to prepare UAVs 100 for both deliveries, in which the parcel carrier 200 installed to the UAV 100 is coupled to a parcel 300. The operations may also be performed to prepare UAVs 100 for pick-ups, in which the parcel carrier 200 installed to the UAV 100 is not coupled to a parcel 300, but is rather configured to pick up a parcel 300 from a serviceable point.

J. Navigation of UAV for Pick-Up/Delivery

In various embodiments, UAVs 100 can operate autonomously. In an autonomous embodiment, UAVs 100 may navigate between vehicles 10 and serviceable points 5901 along predetermined/configurable flight routes/paths. A predetermined/configurable flight path may include a direct line of flight between the vehicle 10 and the serviceable point 5901. The UAV 100 may proceed along a direct line between a vehicle 10 and a serviceable point 5901, and the UAV 100 may deviate from the predetermined/configurable flight path in response to receiving an indication of an object or obstacle in the flight path from the flight guidance sensor 166. In some embodiments, the predetermined/configurable flight path may include one or more waypoints (e.g., geocodes or geo coordinates), or one or more geographic locations that the UAV 100 will travel to between the vehicle 10 and the serviceable point 5901. The waypoints may be determined to provide an efficient flight path between the vehicle 10 and the serviceable point 5901 (e.g., minimizing flight time), and be determined based on known obstacles that would prevent a direct flight path between the vehicle 10 and the serviceable point 5901 (e.g., buildings, power lines, etc.).

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the flight and operations of the UAV 100 may be remotely and manually controlled, such as through the mobile carrier computing entity 806, the central computing entity 802, and/or the delivery vehicle computing entity 810. As will recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

Referring to FIG. 57, one embodiment of operations of the UAV 100 after the UAV 100 has departed from the vehicle 10 is schematically depicted. In a first step S702, the UAV 100 navigates from the takeoff end 402 of the vehicle 10 to a desired serviceable point 5901. In embodiments, the UAV 100 navigates to a desired serviceable point based on information/data associated with the parcel carrier 200.

In some embodiments, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 and/or the UAV computing entity 808 may provide a notification/message to the user computing entity 804 indicating that the UAV 100 has departed from the vehicle 10. The UAV computing entity 808 may also provide an indication to the user computing entity 804 indicating the estimated time of arrival of the UAV 100 to the serviceable point based on the position of the UAV 100 with respect to the serviceable point. Further in some embodiments, the UAV computing entity 808 may transmit a live-feed/stream for display on the user computing entity 804 of the route/flight of the UAV 100, such as may be captured by the one or more cameras 168.

At step S704, if the parcel carrier 200 is scheduled for a pick-up, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S706 and initiates a pick-up sequence. If the parcel carrier 200 is not scheduled for a pick-up, then the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S708 and initiates a delivery sequence. Operational steps for the delivery sequence (e.g., step S708) and the pick-up sequence (e.g., step S706) are described in greater detail herein.

Referring to FIG. 58, a front view of a UAV 100 at a serviceable point 5901 is schematically depicted. In embodiments, a consignee or user may request delivery to or pick-up of the parcel 300 at a serviceable point 5901, which may include a home, business, or other location at which the consignee wishes the parcel 300 to be delivered. The consignor/consignee may further request that the parcel 300 is delivered to one or more preferred delivery/pick-up points/locations at the serviceable point 5901. As one example, the consignee may request that the parcel is delivered to a first desired delivery point/location 5902 or an alternate second desired delivery point/location 5904 at the serviceable point 5901, where the first desired delivery point/location 5902 is spaced apart from the second desired delivery point/location 5904. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 58, the first the first desired delivery point/location 5902 is positioned in a front area of the serviceable point 5901 (e.g., in the front yard and/or the like), while the second desired delivery point/location 5904 is positioned in a rear area of the serviceable point 5901 (e.g., in the back yard and/or the like). Alternatively, the first desired delivery point/location 5902 and the second desired delivery point/location 5904 may be positioned at any locations of the serviceable point 5901 suitable to receive a parcel 300, for example, the roof of a structure, a porch, a driveway, and/or the like. In some embodiments, the first desired delivery point/location 5902 and/or the second desired delivery point/location 5904 may be positioned within a portion of the serviceable point 5901 having restricted access. For example, the first desired delivery point/location 5902 and/or the second desired delivery point/location 5904 may be positioned within a garage 5906 of the serviceable point 5901, where the garage 5906 is selectively accessible through a garage door 5908. In embodiments, the position of the desired delivery points/locations at the serviceable point 5901 may be associated with a user profile, such that the desired delivery points/locations may be re-used for subsequent deliveries to the serviceable point 5901.

In embodiments, the UAV computing entity 808 may communicate with the user computing entity 802 so that the UAV 100 may gain access to the garage 5906 (or access the same via user profile). For example, the UAV computing entity 808 may receive delivery instructions from the consignee, via the user computing entity 804 and the central computing entity 802, indicating that the parcel 300 is to be delivered to a restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901. Along with the request to deliver the parcel to a restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 804 may receive an access code from the consignee (or access the same via the user's user profile) via the user computing entity 804 and/or the central computing entity 802. The access code may provide selective access to the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901 (if valid).

In one embodiment, upon receiving a communication of the access code from the UAV computing entity 808 (e.g., stored in a user profile), the user computing entity 804 can validate the access code, and if valid, may command the garage door 5908 (FIG. 58) to open such that the UAV 100 may enter and deliver the parcel 300 to the garage 5906 (FIG. 58). The access code may include a unique single-use or temporary access code that may provide access to the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901 once. For example, upon receiving the unique single-use access code from the UAV computing entity 808, the user computing entity 804 may validate the access code, and if valid, command the garage door 5908 (FIG. 58) to open. In a single-use implementation, the user computing entity 804 may not command the garage door 5908 (FIG. 58) to open upon any subsequent receipt of the unique single-use access code. By utilizing a unique single-use access code, access may be provided for a specific parcel delivery, without providing the UAV computing entity 808 or any other computing entity with data/information that might be able to facilitate general access to the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901.

Furthermore, in some configurations, the access code may include a unique access code that when communicated to the user computing entity 804, causes the user computing entity 804 to partially open the garage door 5908 (FIG. 58) such that a UAV 100 may navigate to the interior of the garage 5906 (FIG. 58). By only partially opening the garage door 5908, the access code may allow access to the garage 5908 for delivery of the parcel 300, without fully opening the garage door 5908 and providing un-restricted access to the garage 5906 (FIG. 58). While the user computing entity 804 is described as commanding the garage door 5908 to selectively open to allow access to the garage 5906, it should be understood that the user computing entity 804 may selectively provide access to any suitable restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901.

Alternatively or in addition to receiving and subsequently providing an access code to obtain access to the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 802 may interact directly with the consignee via the user computing entity 804 to obtain access to the restricted area of the serviceable point 5901. For example, upon arriving to the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 802 may establish communication with the user computing entity 804 (e.g., gate or garage door controller, smart home entity, and/or the like) and may send a request to access the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901. The consignee may then provide an input to the user computing entity 804 that may provide access to the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901 (e.g., by opening the garage door 5908). The UAV computing entity 802 may also close the gate or garage door in a similar manner. Alternatively, access to the restricted access area may be based on a timer (e.g., the door or gate is open for 30 seconds or 1 minute).

The central computing entity 802 may receive a location coordinate (e.g., a latitude and a longitude) of the first desired delivery point/location 5902 and the second desired delivery point/location 5904 from the consignee via the user computing entity 804 (or access the same via a corresponding user profile). Alternatively, in some embodiments, upon receiving a request to receive a parcel delivery to the serviceable point 5901 from the user computing entity 804, the central computing entity 802 may send the user computing entity 804 information/data including an indicia configured to be printed on a media. As a specific example, the central computing entity 802 may send a consignee via the user computing entity 804 a QR code, barcode, MaxiCode, symbol, and/or the like configured to be printed on a medium and placed at the first desired delivery point/location 5902 and/or the second desired delivery point/location 5904. The cameras 168 of the UAV 100 may be configured to read the indicia and may utilize the indicia to navigate to the first desired delivery point/location 5902 and/or the second desired delivery point/location 5904.

Similarly, the central computing entity 802 may receive a location coordinate (e.g., a latitude and a longitude) of a desired pick-up point/location from the consignee via the user computing entity 804 (or access the same via a corresponding user profile). Alternatively, in some embodiments, upon receiving a request to receive a parcel pick-up at the serviceable point 5901 from the user computing entity 804, the central computing entity 802 may send the user computing entity 804 information/data representing an indicia configured to be printed on a media. As a specific example, the central computing entity 802 may send a consignee via the user computing entity 804 a QR code, barcode, MaxiCode, symbol, and/or the like configured to be printed on a medium and placed at the desired pick-up point/location and/or the parcel 300 to be picked up. The cameras 168 of the UAV 100 may be configured to read the indicia and may utilize the indicia to navigate to the pick-up point/location.

K. Primary and Secondary Pick-Up and Delivery Points

Referring to FIG. 59, one embodiment of operations for delivering a parcel 300 to the serviceable point 5901 is schematically depicted. In a first step S802, the UAV 100 navigates to the serviceable point 5901. As described above, within the serviceable point 5901, a preference for delivery at the first desired delivery point/location 5902 or the alternate second desired delivery point/location 5904 may be indicated by the consignee of the parcel 300, such as through the user computing entity 804 or a corresponding user profile. The UAV computing entity 808 then proceeds to step S804, where the UAV computing entity 808 determines if the first delivery point/location 5902 (e.g., primary delivery point) is available for delivery of the parcel 300. If the first delivery point/location 5902 is available for delivery of the parcel 300, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S808 and navigates to the first desired delivery point/location 5902. Once the UAV 100 is positioned over the first desired delivery point/location 5902, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S809 and reduces the power provided to the propulsion members 102, such that the UAV 100 descends to the first delivery point/location 5902. The UAV computing entity 808 may cause the UAV 100 to descend until the ground probe 250 is depressed. As described above, the ground probe 250 may be communicatively coupled to the parcel carrier computing entity 212, and depression of the ground probe 250 may cause the parcel carrier 200 to release the parcel 300 at the first desired delivery point/location 5902.

If the first delivery point/location 5902 is not available for delivery of the parcel 300, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S810, and the UAV computing entity 808 determines if the second delivery point/location 5904 (e.g., secondary delivery point) is available for delivery of the parcel 300. If the second delivery point/location 5904 is not available for delivery of the parcel 300 the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S812 and navigates the UAV 100 back to the vehicle 10. In the instance that the UAV computing entity 808 navigates the UAV 100 back to the vehicle 10 without delivering the parcel 300, the UAV computing entity 808 may optionally provide a notification/message to the user computing entity 804 that the parcel 300 was not successfully delivered.

If the second delivery point/location 5904 is available for delivery of the parcel 300, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S814 and navigates the UAV 100 to the second desired delivery point/location 5904. Once the UAV 100 is positioned over the second desired delivery point/location 5904, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S815 and reduces the power provided to the propulsion members 102, such that the UAV 100 descends to the second delivery point/location 5904. The UAV computing entity 808 may cause the UAV 100 to descend until the ground probe 250 is depressed. As described above, the ground probe 250 may be communicatively coupled to the parcel carrier computing entity 212, and depression of the ground probe 250 may cause the parcel carrier 200 to release the parcel 300 at the second desired delivery point/location 5904.

In embodiments, the UAV computing entity 808 may determine that the first delivery point/location 5902 and/or the second delivery point/location 5904 are unavailable for delivery of the parcel 300 based on the detection of objects positioned on or adjacent to the first delivery point/location 5902 and/or the second delivery point/location 5904 that would prevent the UAV 100 from having a clear route/flight path to the first delivery point/location 5902 and/or the second delivery point/location 5904. For example, the UAV computing entity 808 may detect a person near or at the first delivery point/location 5902 with the route/flight guidance sensors 166 and/or the one or more cameras 168, such that the UAV 100 may not navigate toward the first delivery point/location 5902 without contacting the person. By providing a first delivery point/location 5902 and a second delivery point/location 5904, the UAV computing entity 808 may have the opportunity to successfully deliver the parcel 300 to the second delivery point/location 5904, instead of returning to the vehicle 10, unsuccessfully delivering the parcel 300. While the operations described above with respect to FIG. 59 describe a first delivery point/location 5902 and a second delivery point/location 5904, it should be understood that the consignee may provide any suitable number of alternate delivery locations, such as through the user computing entity 804, to which the UAV 100 may attempt to deliver the parcel 300.

L. Pick-Up or Delivery at Restricted Access Area

Referring to FIG. 60, one embodiment of operations for a delivery sequence of the UAV 100 is schematically depicted. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 60, the UAV 100 may deliver the parcel 300 to a restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901. In a first step S922, the UAV computing entity 808 may reduce the power provided to the propulsion members 102 such that the UAV 100 descends to a predetermined/configurable height and positioned a predetermined/configurable distance from the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901. In embodiments, the predetermined/configurable height and the predetermined/configurable distance may include any suitable height and distance that allows the UAV computing entity 808 to communicate with the user computing entity 804.

In a second step S924, the UAV computing entity 808 determines if instructions were received to deliver the parcel 300 to a restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901. If the UAV computing entity 808 did not receive instructions to deliver the parcel 300 to a restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity proceeds to step S928 and navigates the UAV 100 to the delivery point/location at the serviceable point 5901. At step S929, the UAV computing entity 808 may reduce power provided to the propulsion members 102, causing the UAV 100 to descend until the ground probe 250 is depressed. As described above, the ground probe 250 may be communicatively coupled to the parcel carrier computing entity 212, and depression of the ground probe 250 may cause the parcel carrier 200 to release the parcel 300 at the delivery location.

If, at step S904, the UAV computing entity 808 received instructions to deliver the parcel 300 to a restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901, then the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S926, where the UAV computing entity 808 communicates an access code to the user computing entity 804. As described above, in response to receipt of an access code, the user computing entity 804 may selectively provide access to the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901, for example, by commanding the garage door 5908 (FIG. 58) to open. After communicating the access code to the user computing entity 804, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step S930 and navigates the UAV to the delivery point/location within the restricted access area of the serviceable point 5901. At step S931, the UAV computing entity 808 may reduce power provided to the propulsion members 102, causing the UAV 100 to descend until the ground probe 250 is depressed. As described above, the ground probe 250 may be communicatively coupled to the parcel carrier computing entity 212, and depression of the ground probe 250 may cause the parcel carrier 200 to release the parcel 300 at the delivery location. In this way, the UAV 100 may access restricted access areas of the serviceable point 5901 to deliver a parcel 300.

M. Parcel Release Operations at Delivery Point

Reference will now be made to the operations and methods that may be employed as the parcel 300 is released from the parcel carrier 200. Referring to FIG. 61, one embodiment of operations for a delivery sequence of the UAV 100 is schematically depicted. In a first step 6002, the parcel 300 is released from the parcel carrier 200, for example, in response to depression of the ground probe 250. Upon release of the parcel 300 from the parcel carrier 200, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6004, and receives an indication of the release of the parcel 300 from the parcel carrier 200. For example, the parcel carrier computing entity 212 may communicate with the UAV computing entity 808 and may provide an indication when the parcel 300 is released from the parcel carrier 200. Additionally or alternatively, in some embodiments, the camera 168 of the UAV 100 may record the release of the parcel 300 from the parcel carrier 200, via a video and/or still photo.

Upon receiving the indication of the release of the parcel 300 from the parcel carrier 200, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6006 and communicates confirmation of delivery of the parcel 300 to the user computing entity 804 (and/or a variety of other computing entities). In embodiments where the UAV computing entity 808 records the release of the parcel 300 via the camera 168, the UAV computing entity 808 may communicate video, still photo, and/or a live video feed of the parcel 300 being delivered to the delivery point/location at the serviceable point 5901, thereby providing confirmation of delivery of the parcel 300, as will be described in greater detail herein. The data/information (e.g., the photos and/or videos) obtained by the camera 168 may be associated with the parcel 300 and stored at the central computing entity, along with other data/information obtained by the UAV computing entity 808 that may be associated with the parcel 300 and the delivery via the UAV 100. For example, telemetry data/information, temperature data/information associated with the delivery of the parcel 300 may be stored at the central computing entity 802. The data/information obtained by the UAV computing entity 808 may subsequently be accessed by other computing entities, such as the user computing entity 804.

In some embodiments, the UAV computing entity 808 may additionally send an indication to the user computing entity 804 to prompt the consignee to provide an input confirming the delivery of the parcel 300. The UAV computing entity 808 may send the prompt to the user computing entity 804 in any suitable manner, and may interface with any suitable platform, including but not limited to ring.com and/or the like.

At step 6008, the UAV computing entity 808 may optionally communicate an indication and/or an access code to the user computing entity 804 after leaving the delivery location, for example when the UAV 100 is delivering a parcel 300 to an access restricted area of the serviceable point 5901. Upon receipt of the indication and/or access code, the user computing entity 804 may selectively prevent access to the access restricted area of the serviceable point 5901, for example, by closing the garage door 5908. At step 6010, the UAV computing entity 808 navigates the UAV 100 back to the vehicle 10.

N. Parcel Pick-Up Operations at Pick-Up Point

Referring to FIG. 62, one embodiment of operations for picking up a parcel 300 at a serviceable point 5901 is schematically depicted. As described above, the UAV 100 may be dispatched from the vehicle 10 to deliver a parcel 300 from the vehicle 10 to a serviceable point 5901, or the UAV 100 may be dispatched from the vehicle 10 to pick up a parcel 300 from the serviceable point 5901 and return the parcel 300 to the vehicle.

In a first step 6102, the UAV computing entity 808 navigates the UAV 100 to a pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901. As described above, a consignee may request the pick-up of a parcel 300 at the serviceable point 5901 and may provide the UAV computing entity 808 with a pick-up point/location for the parcel 300. Upon arriving at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6104 and reduces the power to the propulsion members 102 to descend the UAV 100 to a predetermined/configurable height at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901. In embodiments, the predetermined/configurable height may be any suitable height at which the camera 168 of the UAV may detect a parcel 300 at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901.

At step 6106, the UAV computing entity 808 determines if a parcel 300 is detected at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901 by the camera 168. If no parcel 300 is detected at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6108 and navigates the UAV 100 back to the vehicle 10. The UAV computing entity 808 may also provide an indication to the user computing entity 804 that the UAV 100 did not successfully pick up a parcel from the pick-up point/location.

If a parcel 300 is detected at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6110 and causes the UAV 100 to descend over the parcel 300, such as by reducing the power provided to the propulsion members 102. In embodiments, the UAV computing entity 808 may utilize the camera 168 and the ground landing sensors 162 to controllably descend over the parcel 300 at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901. In some embodiments, the camera 168 may detect an indicia positioned on the parcel. As the UAV 100 descends, the parcel carrying arms 230 may engage the parcel 300. For example, as described above, upon the depression of the ground probe 250, the parcel carrying arms 230 may move into a disengaged position, such that the parcel carrying arms 230 are spaced apart from the parcel 300. Once the parcel carrying arms 230 are positioned around the parcel 300, the parcel carrying arms 230 may be repositioned into the engaged position such that the parcel 300 is coupled to the parcel carrier 200. Once the parcel 300 is coupled to the parcel carrier 200, the parcel carrier computing entity 212 may send a signal to the UAV computing entity 808 indicating that the parcel 300 is coupled to the parcel carrier 200.

Once the parcel 300 is coupled to the parcel carrier 200, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6112 and may command power to be provided to the propulsion members 102 and the UAV computing entity 808 navigates the UAV 100 back to the vehicle 10. In embodiments where the UAV 100 automatically picks up a parcel 300 from the pick-up point/location (e.g., picks up the parcel 300 without requiring user intervention), the parcel 300 may be of a predetermined/configurable size/dimension, such that the parcel carrier may accurately engage the parcel 300.

The UAV computing entity 808 may additionally provide a notification/message to the user computing entity 804 that the parcel 300 was picked up from the serviceable point 5901. In embodiments where the UAV computing entity 808 records the pick-up of the parcel 300 via the camera 168, the UAV computing entity 808 may communicate video, still photo, and/or a live video feed of the parcel 300 being picked up at the serviceable point 5901, thereby providing confirmation of delivery of the parcel 300. The data/information (e.g., the photos and/or videos) obtained by the camera 168 may be associated with the parcel 300 and stored at the central computing entity 802, along with other data/information obtained by the UAV computing entity 808 that may be associated with the parcel 300 and the pick-up via the UAV 100. For example, telemetry data/information, temperature data/information associated with the pick-up of the parcel 300 may be stored at the central computing entity 802. The data/information obtained by the UAV computing entity 808 may subsequently be accessed by other computing entities, such as the user computing entity 804.

O. Additional Parcel Pick-Up Operations at Pick-Up Point

Referring to FIG. 63, one embodiment of operations for picking up a parcel 300 at a serviceable point 5901 is schematically depicted. In a first step 6202, the UAV computing entity 808 navigates the UAV 100 to a pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901. As described above, a consignee may request the pick-up of a parcel 300 at the serviceable point 5901 and may provide the UAV computing entity 808 with a pick-up point/location for the parcel 300. Upon arriving at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6204 and lands at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901, such as by reducing the power provided to the propulsion members 102. The UAV computing entity 808 may communicate with the ground landing sensors 162 to controllably land the UAV 100 at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901. Upon landing the UAV 100 at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 808 may cease providing power to the propulsion members 102 (e.g., causing the propulsion members 102 to stop rotating). The UAV 100 may remain at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901 allowing a user to couple a parcel 300 to the parcel carrier 200 of the UAV 100. For example, in embodiments where the parcel carrier 200 is coupled to a parcel housing 360 (FIG. 19), the UAV 100 may remain at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901 allowing a user to place a parcel 300 within the parcel housing 360.

At step 6206, the UAV computing entity 808 and/or the central computing entity 802 receive an indication from the user computing entity 804 indicating that the parcel 300 is loaded to the parcel carrier 200. For example, the user may provide an input to the user computing entity 804 indicating that the parcel 300 is loaded to the parcel carrier 200, and the user computing entity 804 may communicate the indication to the UAV computing entity 804 and/or the central computing entity 802. Upon receiving the indication that the parcel 300 is loaded to the parcel carrier 200, the UAV computing entity 804 proceeds to step 6208 and determines if a vehicle 10 is positioned within a predetermined/configurable distance of the UAV 100. For example, the UAV computing entity 804 may communicate with the central computing entity 802 and/or one or more delivery vehicle computing entities 810 to determine if any vehicles 10 are positioned within a predetermined/configurable distance of the UAV 100. If no vehicles 10 are positioned within the predetermined/configurable distance of the UAV computing entity 808 will remain at step 6206 and the UAV 100 will remain at the pick-up point/location at the serviceable point 5901. If a vehicle 10 is positioned within the predetermined/configurable distance of the UAV 100, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6210 and engages the propulsion members 102 and navigates to the vehicle 10.

In embodiments, the predetermined/configurable distance between the UAV 100 and the vehicle 10 may be an estimated route/flight range of the UAV 100 based on available power to the UAV 100, such as from the power supply 214. Once the central computing entity 802 and/or the UAV computing entity 808 receive the indication that the parcel 300 is loaded to the parcel carrier, if no vehicle 10 is positioned within the predetermined/configurable distance of the UAV 100 or if no vehicle is scheduled to be positioned within the predetermined/configurable distance of the UAV 100, the central computing entity 802 may generate instructions to dispatch a vehicle 10 to retrieve the UAV 100, or may re-route a vehicle 10's delivery route/flight such that a vehicle 10 will be positioned within the predetermined/configurable distance of the UAV 100, such that the parcel 300 may be retrieved from the pick-up point/location.

P. Communication-Based Pick-Up and Delivery Confirmations

In embodiments, the computing entities may send and receive various notifications/messages and/or data/information related to the pick-up and/or delivery of parcels 300. As will be recognized, certain communication technologies and protocols have range limitations for directly connecting to and/or directly communicating with computing entities (e.g., point-to-point, peer-to-peer, Wi-Fi, WLAN, WPAN, and/or the like). For example, NFC technologies may have range limitations of less than 12 inches. Various Bluetooth technologies may have range limitations from 20 feet to 300 feet. Wi-Fi Direct may have range limitations of 600 feet. Thus, depending on the application or context, various communication technologies and protocols can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances. For instance, NFC, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Direct, and other technologies may be used to provide confirmation that the UAV 100 actually visited the serviceable point 5901 for a delivery or pick-up. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

In one embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 can confirm delivery or pick-up of a parcel by connecting to and/or communicating with registered user computing entities 804 (e.g., a user's smartphone, Wi-Fi network, garage door, Echo, Nest, Home, security system, and/or the like). For instance, in the Bluetooth context, a user computing entity 804 can connect with multiple entities simultaneously with each entity being within a 30-foot radius. In essence, Bluetooth (and other) systems create personal-area networks (PANs) or piconets that may fill an area, room, or vehicle. To create a connection, communication, session, and/or similar words used herein interchangeably between a user computing entity 804 and a UAV computing entity 808, a trusted relationship can be established between the entities using credential information/data (e.g., passwords and/or other credentials) that can be stored by each entity for future connection attempts (e.g., the entities are paired). After computing entities have been paired or credential information/data stored, establishing a connection may begin with a phase called “inquiry” through which a UAV computing entity 808 sends an inquiry request to all user computing entities 804 found within its range. The user computing entities 804 within range would then receive the query and reply. The UAV computing entity 808 then synchronizes with the various user computing entities 804 within range. Once the computing entities are connected (e.g., a connection is established) or communicate, the UAV computing entity 808 can provide instructions to various user computing entities (e.g., record the delivery, open or close the garage door, generate a record of the communication, and/or the like) and/or provide notifications/messages regarding the same. As will be recognized, other communication technologies and protocols (e.g., NFC, Wibree, HomeRF, SWAP, Wi-Fi Direct, and/or the like) can be used in a similar manner in terms of connecting and disconnecting with UAV computing entities 808. That is, the other communication technologies and protocols can communicate with or establish connections between user computing entities 804 and UAV computing entities 808.

In one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 (and/or a variety of other computing entities) may perform connection-based monitoring regularly, periodically, continuously, during certain time periods or time frames, on certain days, upon determining the occurrence of one or more configurable/determinable triggers/events, combinations thereof, and/or the like. In one embodiment, the central computing entity 802 (and/or a variety of other computing entities) may perform connection-based monitoring upon determining the occurrence of one or more configurable triggers/events, in response to requests, in response to determinations/identifications, combinations thereof, and/or the like. For example, the connection-based monitoring can be initiated using a variety of different triggers—(a) a designated UAV 100 taking off or landing; (b) a designated UAV 100 beginning to ascend or descend; (c) a designated UAV 100 releasing a parcel; (d) a designated UAV 100 moving into or out of a geofenced area; (e) a designated UAV 100 moving into a geofenced area; and/or a variety of other triggers/events. As will be recognized, a variety of other triggers/events can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances. If a configurable/determinable trigger/event is not detected, an appropriate computing entity can determine/identify whether a configurable time period has begun or ended. If the appropriate computing entity determines/identifies that the configurable time period has not begun or ended, the appropriate computing entity can continue monitoring for configurable/determinable triggers/events. However, if the appropriate computing entity determines/identifies that the configurable time period has begun or ended, the appropriate computing entity (e.g., central computing entity 802) can continuously monitor whether one or more user computing entities 804 are connected to (e.g., communicating with) one or more UAV computing entities 808. The monitoring may continue indefinitely, until the occurrence of one or more configurable/determinable triggers/events, until a configurable time period has elapsed, combinations thereof, and/or the like.

Continuing with the above example, a UAV computing entity 808 can automatically communicate with one or more user computing entities 804 (e.g., including garage door controllers). To do so, the user profile for the user (e.g., associated with the parcel to be delivered) can be accessed to identify any related user computing entities 804 and the corresponding connection information/data. Generally, the connections between one or more user computing entities 804 and/or one or more of the UAV computing entities 808 can be attempted by or monitored by any of a variety of computing entities—including central computing entities 802, user computing entities 804, UAV computing entities 808, and/or the like. Continuing with the above example, an appropriate computing entity may determine/identify when a user computing entity 804 and a UAV computing entity 808 are connected or communicating with one another. For instance, upon descent to a serviceable point 5901, the UAV computing entity 808 can monitor for connections to or attempt to connect to one or more user computing entities 804 associated with the parcel using the information/data previously collected or obtained.

Responsive to connecting with one or more user computing entities 804, the UAV computing entity 808 can indicate or provide an indication of the same (e.g., that the UAV computing entity 808 is connected to the user computing entity 804 for Joseph Brown). The indication may include entity information/data associated with the corresponding user computing entity 804 and/or UAV computing entity 808, such as the corresponding entity identifiers and names. The indication may also include other information/data, such as the location at which the entities connected (e.g., geocode or GPS samples), the time at which the entities connected, and/or the like. The appropriate computing entity can then store the information/data in one more records and/or in association with the account, subscription, program, parcel information/data, and/or the like. The information/data can also be stored in association with tracking information/data for the parcel. This may include storing the electronic signature from the user's profile in association with the parcel information/data for the parcel. That is, the connection can serve as an electronic signature by the user, and the electronic signature can then be stored accordingly with the information/data for the parcel.

The appropriate computing entity can also provide notifications/messages in accordance with users' notification/message preferences. For example, the central computing entity 802 (and/or UAV computing entity 808) can automatically provide (e.g., generate, queue, and/or transmit) one or more notifications/messages based on the configurable/determinable parameters for a give user profile (messages to both consignors and/or consignees). For example, the central computing entity 802 (and/or other appropriately configured computing entities) can automatically provide the notifications/messages to the electronic destination addresses regarding parcels that have been picked up or delivered or have been attempted to be picked up or delivered. As will be recognized, this may include generating, queuing, and/or transmitting an email message to a user's email address, a text message to a user's cellular phone, a notification/message to a designated application, and/or the like based on the configurable/determinable parameters. As will be recognized, a variety of types of messages can be provided to various electronic destination addresses in response completing or attempting pick-ups or deliveries. Such notifications/messages may include links or access to parcel information/data and/or the real time location of the parcel. The links or access to information/data sources may be used to provide real-time location information/data of the corresponding UAV computing entity 808. Such notifications/messages can be provided on a periodic or regular basis and/or in response to certain triggers/events.

Q. Notifications/Messages

In embodiments, various computing entities can provide notifications/messages in accordance with users' notification/message preferences (e.g., stored in user profiles). For example, the UAV computing entity 808 and/or central computing entity 802 can automatically provide (e.g., generate, queue, and/or transmit) one or more notifications/messages based on the configurable/determinable parameters for a give user profile (messages to both consignors and/or consignees). For example, an appropriate computing entity can automatically provide the notifications/messages to the electronic destination addresses regarding parcels that have been picked up or delivered or have been attempted to be picked up or delivered. As will be recognized, this may include generating, queuing, and/or transmitting an email message to a user's email address, a text message to a user's cellular phone, a notification/message to a designated application, and/or the like based on the configurable/determinable parameters. As will be recognized, a variety of types of messages can be provided to various electronic destination addresses in response completing or attempting pick-ups or deliveries. Such notifications/messages may include links or access to parcel information/data and/or the real time location of the parcel (e.g., including various maps). The links or access to information/data sources may be used to provide real-time location information/data of the corresponding UAV computing entity 808. Such notifications/messages can be provided on a periodic or regular basis and/or in response to certain triggers/events.

For example, as noted above, the UAV computing entity 808 may provide a notification/message to the user computing entity 804 upon releasing a parcel 300 from the parcel carrier 200, and may prompt the consignor/consignee to confirm delivery of the parcel 300 via the user computing entity 804. Additionally, the UAV computing entity 808 may provide a notification/message to the user computing entity 804 upon picking up a parcel 300 at the serviceable point 5901, and may prompt the consignor/consignee to confirm pick-up of the parcel 300 vial the user computing entity 804. The notifications/messages may include sound, video (including 360° video), GIFs, telemetry information/data, pick-up information/data, delivery information/data, environmental information/data, links to information/data, still images captured by the camera 168, and/or the like.

The UAV computing entity 808 and/or central computing entity 802 may similarly provide notifications/messages to the user computing entity 804 indicating various progress throughout the delivery process, including a notification/message when the UAV 100 is dispatched from the vehicle 10 and an estimated time of arrival of the UAV 100 to the serviceable point 5901.

R. Return and Landing Operations at Vehicle

Referring to FIG. 64, one embodiment of operations for landing a UAV 100 to a vehicle 10 is schematically depicted. As described above, a UAV 100 may be dispatched from a vehicle to a delivery point/location or a pick-up location, and upon delivery or pick-up of a parcel, the UAV 100 returns to the vehicle 10. In a first step 6302, the UAV computing entity 808 navigates the UAV 100 to the vehicle 10. In embodiments, the UAV computing entity 808 may communicate with the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 and/or the central computing entity 802 to determine the location of the vehicle 10 and/or the planned route of the vehicle 10. As the UAV 100 approaches the vehicle 10, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6304 and receives a signal from the guidance array 430 of the UAV support mechanism 400, such as through the camera 168 and/or the vehicle landing sensors 164. As described above, the guidance array 430 may include visual indicators 432 and positioning beacons 434 to assist the UAV 100 in locating the position of the opposing rails 410.

The UAV computing entity 808 then proceeds to step 6306 and navigates the UAV 100 to the landing region 404 of the UAV support mechanism 400. In particular, the UAV computing entity 808 may rely on the signal or signals from the guidance array 430 and the vehicle landing sensors 164. As described above, the vehicle landing sensors 164 may include sensors (e.g., LIDAR) that may accurately detect the position of the opposing rails 410 such that the UAV 100 may accurately engage the opposing rails 410 such that the UAV 100 may accurately engage the opposing rails 410, engaging the reduced width portion 115 of the UAV chassis 110 with the opposing rails 410. In particular, the UAV computing entity 808 may fly the UAV 100 to the landing region 440 and proceed along the converging opposing rails 410 until the reduced width portion 115 contacts the opposing rails 410.

In some embodiments, the UAV computing entity 808 may not land to the vehicle 10 while the vehicle 10 is in motion. In particular, it may be difficult to accurately detect the position of the opposing rails 410 while the vehicle 10 is in motion, and the UAV computing entity 808 may command the UAV 100 to navigate and follow the vehicle 10 at a predetermined/configurable distance from the vehicle 10 until the vehicle comes to a stop. In some embodiments, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may send a signal to the UAV computing entity 808 when the vehicle 10 is stopped or parked, such that the UAV computing entity 808 may command the UAV 100 to land to the vehicle 10.

In other embodiments, however, the UAV computing entity 808 may command the UAV 100 to land to the vehicle 10 while the vehicle 10 is in motion based on the detected position of the opposing rails 410 and the expected future movements of the vehicle based on a predetermined delivery route of the vehicle 10. For example, when the vehicle 10 includes an autonomous vehicle, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may communicate the expected movements of the vehicle to the UAV computing entity 808. For example, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may communicate the speed of the vehicle 10 to the UAV computing entity 808. In such an embodiment, the UAV computing entity 808 may calculate an optimal landing speed as an offset from the speed of the vehicle 10. For example, if the vehicle 10 were traveling in the forward direction at 10 miles per hour, the UAV computing entity 808 could adjust its speed and direction of travel to 9 miles per hour in the same direction as the vehicle 10 (in the vehicle's path). Thus, the UAV 100 would engage the opposing rails 410 of the vehicle 10 at a difference of 1 mile per hour. This would reduce the risks of damage to the vehicle 10 and UAV 100. As will be recognized, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 and UAV computing entity 808 could be in continuous communication to provide and receive real time speed changes of the vehicle 10 until the UAV 100 successful lands and engages with the opposing rails 410 of the vehicle 10. In another embodiment, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may provide a regular or continuous stream of speed commands to the UAV computing entity 808 indicating the optimal landing speed for engagement with the opposing rails 410 of the vehicle 10. This embodiment does not require the UAV computing entity 808 to calculate a speed offset of the vehicle 10. As will be recognized, a variety of other approaches and techniques can be used to adapt to various needs and circumstances.

S. Parcel/Parcel Carrier Retrieval Operations at Vehicle

Referring to FIG. 65, one embodiment of operations for retrieving a parcel carrier 200 from a UAV 100 that has landed to the vehicle 10 is schematically depicted. As described above, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 is communicatively coupled to the central computing entity 802, and may be communicatively coupled to the robot processor 522 and the conveyor controller 460 of the vehicle 10. In a first step 6402, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 determines if the return position sensor 450 b indicates if a UAV 100 is positioned within the return region 406. If the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 does not receive a signal from the return position sensor 450 b indicating the UAV 100 is positioned within the return region 406, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 remains at step 6402. If the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 receives a signal from the return position sensor 450 b indicating that a UAV 100 is positioned within the return region 406, the delivery vehicle computing entity 810 proceeds to step 6404 and commands the robot 500 to retrieve the parcel carrier 200 (and the associated parcels 300 in the instance of a UAV 100 returning from a pick-up) from the UAV 100.

The delivery vehicle computing entity 810 then proceeds to step 6406 to move the robot 500 to place the parcel carrier 200/parcel 300 to the rack 30 within the vehicle 10. The delivery vehicle computing entity 810 may then command the conveyor 440 to move the UAV 100 through the transport region 407 to the supply region 408, such that the UAV 100 may be re-supplied with another parcel carrier to perform another delivery or pick-up.

T. Exemplary Recovery Operations

Referring to FIG. 66, one embodiment of operations for UAV emergency recovery is schematically depicted. As may be understood, components of the UAV 100 may periodically encounter faults. In a first step 6602, if the UAV computing entity 808 does not receive a fault indication from any of the UAV systems or components (such as the propulsion members 102, the power supply 214, etc.), the UAV computing entity 808 remains at step 6602. If the UAV computing entity 808 does receive a fault indication, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6604. At step 6604, the UAV computing entity 808 determines if the UAV 100 is capable of returning to the vehicle 10 based on the position of the UAV 100 and the nature of the fault. If the UAV 100 is capable of returning to the vehicle 10, the UAV computing entity 808 commands the UAV to navigate back to the vehicle 10. If the UAV computing entity 808 determines that the UAV 100 is not capable of automatically returning to the vehicle 10, the UAV computing entity 808 proceeds to step 6604. At step 6604, the UAV computing entity 808 communicates with the mobile carrier computing entity 806 and/or the central computing entity 802 to allow manual control of the UAV 100 via the mobile carrier computing entity 806 and/or the central computing entity 802. By allowing manual control of the UAV 100 via the mobile carrier computing entity 806 and/or the central computing entity 802, a user, such as a delivery employee may guide the UAV 100 to an appropriate landing spot such that the UAV 100 may be subsequently retrieved. In some embodiments, when the UAV 100 is manually controlled vial the mobile carrier computing entity 806 and/or the central computing entity 802, a video feed of the route/flight of the UAV 100, such as may be captured by the one or more cameras 168, may be provided for display to the mobile carrier computing entity 806 and/or the central computing entity 802 to allow a user to operate the UAV 100.

In some embodiments, the UAV 100 may optionally include a parachute or other descent control device that may be deployed when the UAV computing entity 808 receives a fault indication. The parachute or descent control device may assist in preventing uncontrolled descent of the UAV 100 if one or more of the UAV components malfunction. In some embodiments, if the UAV computing entity 808 loses contact with the central computing entity 802, the UAV computing entity 808 may navigate the UAV 100 back to a last known coordinate, or a last known location at which the UAV computing entity 808 had established communication with the central computing entity 802, and upon arriving at the last known location, the UAV computing entity 808 may attempt to re-establish contact with the central computing entity 808.

Reference will now be made to the tracking of various UAVs 100 that may utilized in delivery processes. As may be understood, a carrier may utilize multiple UAVs 100 and it may be desirable to maintain records of route/flight information/data of the UAVs 100 to assist in planning preventative maintenance of the UAVs 100, as well as to optimize the utilization and operation of the UAVs 100.

U. Exemplary Information/Data Collection and UAV Servicing

Referring to FIG. 67, one embodiment of data records that may be retained, such as by the central computing entity 802 is schematically depicted. Each UAV 100 utilized by a carrier may have a unique UAV ID, by which each of the UAVs 100 may be identified. Each of the UAV computing entities 808 may record the route/flight time for each route/flight the UAV 100 completes and may transmit these route/flight times to the central computing entity 802. This may include recording the environmental information/data at during flight operations along with the corresponding geo coordinates and various other types of information/data. This type of information/data can be used to provide real time status updates for specific geographic areas. Each of the route/flight times may be compared against a planned route/flight time, which can be based on the position of the UAV 100 at takeoff with respect to the serviceable point 5901 to which the UAV 100 is dispatched. By comparing planned route/flight time with actual route/flight times, route/flight paths along a delivery route may be analyzed and optimized.

The UAV computing entity 808 and/or the central computing entity 802 may record and retain the number of route/flight hours each UAV 100 performs between maintenance intervals, and may record and retain different types of faults experienced by each UAV 100. By retaining performance records of each of the UAVs 100, a carrier may optimize preventative maintenance of the UAVs 100, and may identify repetitive issues or faults of different UAVs 100.

6. CONCLUSION

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forth herein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which these inventions pertain having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. For example, various embodiments may be configured to associate a plurality of assets with a particular sort location. In such embodiments, a sort employee may scan a plurality of asset identifiers (e.g., sequentially) before transporting the plurality of items to a sort location. Thereafter, the plurality of assets may be associated with the proximate sort location according to the features and methods described herein. Therefore, it is to be understood that the inventions are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. 

1. A method for landing an unmanned aerial (UAV) on a UAV support mechanism, the method comprising: navigating a UAV toward a UAV support mechanism; receiving a signal from a guidance array of the UAV support mechanism; navigating the UAV to a landing region of a UAV support mechanism; guiding a reduced width portion of the UAV between opposing rails of the UAV support mechanism and engaging the UAV with the UAV support mechanism; and moving the UAV from the landing region toward a return region of the UAV support mechanism.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UAV support mechanism is coupled to a primary delivery vehicle.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising, prior to the step of navigating the UAV toward the UAV support mechanism, receiving a notification indicative of a position of the primary delivery vehicle.
 4. The method of claim 2, further comprising, prior to the step of guiding the reduced width portion of the UAV with the opposing rails, receiving a notification that the primary delivery vehicle has stopped.
 5. The method of claim 4, further comprising, prior to the step of receiving the notification that the primary delivery vehicle has stopped, navigating the UAV to follow the primary delivery vehicle at a predetermined distance from the primary delivery vehicle.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising, prior to the step of guiding the reduced width portion of the UAV with the opposing rails, receiving a notification indicative of a moving speed of the primary delivery vehicle.
 7. The method of claim 2, further comprising, prior to the step of guiding the reduced width portion of the UAV with the opposing rails, receiving a notification indicative of a predetermined delivery route of the primary delivery vehicle.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the signal from the guidance array comprises receiving an electronic signal from a positioning beacon.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of receiving the signal from the guidance array comprises receiving a visual signal from a visual indicator.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising turning off the propulsion members of the UAV subsequent to moving the UAV from the landing region to the return region of the UAV support mechanism.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of navigating the UAV toward the UAV support mechanism comprises receiving a coordinate location of the UAV support mechanism from a global positioning system (GPS).
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of navigating the UAV toward the landing region comprises flying the UAV such that the reduced width portion of the UAV is positioned between and spaced apart from the opposing rails of the UAV support mechanism.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of guiding the reduced width portion of the UAV between the opposing rails comprises engaging a lower portion of a UAV chassis with the opposing rails, guiding the UAV to the transport region.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of moving the UAV from the landing region toward the return region comprises engaging the reduced width portion of the UAV with powered rollers of the UAV support mechanism.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the UAV support mechanism is coupled to a primary delivery vehicle positioned above a roof panel of the primary delivery vehicle.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the return region is positioned over a return portal defined by the roof panel of the primary delivery vehicle. 